cravings... BULALO

i've had cravings for bulalo since i read my godsis e-mail last week. today, my day off, i decided to fill that void.

got assortment of beef cuts from my "suki" carneceria. there was no actual bulalo cut that included the bone. i settled for the boneless beef shank, some beef tendons & few cuts of beef ribs.

my BULALO RECIPE

i pressure cooked the tendons for about 15 minutes, while the shank & ribs were boiling separately in a large pot.
when the tendons were done, i discarded the liquid & some fat that clung to the tendons. cut them into chunks. likewise, i discarded the broth from the 1st boiling of the shank/ribs pot. i can't bear the sight of those gnarly looking brown froth floating on my broth. i rinsed the ribs & shank, sliced shank meat to serving portions.

in a large stewing pot i boiled about 5-6 cups of water with 2 large onions (cubed), about a teaspoon of crushed black pepper, together with the shank, ribs & tendons. simmered the bulalo for about 30 minutes, then let it to cool.

i removed all the meat & tendons from the pot & refrigerated the stock. all the beef fat settled on top as soon as it got cold, easy to lift off & discard the molded fat.

how would you like your broth in a pool of lard?

i'm ready for my bulalo at dinner time. all my "verduras" had been prep: 1/4 head of cabbage, a bunch of pechay, 4 golden yukon potatoes, 1 large carrot and about 1/4 lbs of "bechuelas" string beans. i prefer an array of colors & texture. your choice of veggies is up to you, except "amargozo/ampalaya".

boil broth (fat removed), add thin slices of ginger - about a teaspoon. potatoes get in first. let it cook for about 10 minutes, add in the carrots & beans then cabbage & pechay. make sure not to over cook cabbage & pechay. add sea salt (or patis) to taste and more fresh crushed black pepper.

bulalo's peppery flavor & cut of meat (shank with bone & tendons) stands out over "nilaga". nilaga simply means boiled.

i arranged the meat & tendons and veggies in a bowl & pour the the hot broth. serve with patis or soy sauce with lemon on the side for dipping.

ummmm yummy.

recuerdos de Tagaytay y Bulalo

an e-mail from my beloved godsister, NONNA,
brought back old memories.

she and her family drove to tagaytay to celebrate mother's day.
she wrote: "We went to Tagaytay for Mother’s Day Lunch last Sunday and it seemed the whole of Luzon and their mothers were there."

"Everyone now seems to drive to Tagaytay at the drop of a hat, for lunch, dinner, merienda or coffee. The whole ridge side is covered with restaurants and all crowded too during week-ends most specially." her e-mail made me feel like i was there at that instant, sharing her experience.

my recollection of tagaytay was a long ride up a hill over looking
a lake and some little donut looking island that was suppose to be a volcano.

my bias, i'm from albay province and MAYON is the only VOLCANO!

tagaytay was cool & windy and hardly any imposing structures around. just acres & acres of pasture land and fruit trees. that was decades ago, i was probably 6 years old, when i attended a yearly event hosted and held at the estate of HEREDEROS DE RUFINO, a "family day" for all thier employees. an era when most companies were family owned and LOYALTIES were rewarded.

unfortunately my "old country soul" longs for provincial ambiance.
i may be living in the past... but it's that "past" that holds my tie to pinas. expats like me need to hang on to those "memories" of the old pinas before it was "mall-ified" and turned into an urban "shoemart-land".

i've never been to tagaytay since.
my godsis description of the new tagaytay is beyond me.
friends who went to pinas and had the opportunity to
visit tagaytay have given it HIGH marks.
maybe on my next visit, i'll check it out too.

she continues: "We couldn’t get into the restaurant we wanted,
nor could we get into the second one we tried.
We finally ended up at a steakhouse, something we were not really
looking forward to — having fried tawilis and bulalo originally on our minds".

her e-mail gave me the cravings.
maybe this weekend i'll cook some bulalo.
no tawilis around here, but i will settle for crispy fried smelts.
set out a "cafe" style dinning on our small patio. eat al fresco!
it's still cold around here so i can pretend i'm in tagaytay.

hmmm yummy! tagaytay here i come.

bicol express ala barrio

during my youth, our town market had one designated day as "sa-ud". town markets in albay province had a special day assigned as "market day". in guinobatan, albay, "sa-ud" is saturdays. vendors come from all over with all
thier goods, such as town specialties, produce, poultries, meats, seafoods, etc. "sa-ud" is always a festive occassion.

well, what's this got to do with my recipe "bicol express ala barrio"? read on...

"mamay inga", my great grandma, takes me with her on market days of either Ligao (now a city) or Guinobatan.
she would buy "badi" (dried salted fish), "tamban" (dried smoked mackerels in bamboo skewers) or "inasal" (dried grilled stingray), occassionally "kulit" (dried grilled shaved carabao skin). always a MUST on market days is "balao" (salted shrimp fries with no added coloring or "alamang" in tagalog).

before the advent of "price by weight" & "plastic wrapper", balao was purchased by "utsaba" (a volume standard - "gatang" in tagalog) and packed in a coned banana leaf, lining an old newspaper. the banana leaf served as a cooler while the outer cover of old newsprint absorbed any leakage. how is that for recyling?

most of "may inga's" purchases were dried or salted because we lived in a barrio without electricity nor refrigeration.
these condiments would last for weeks before the next "sa-ud" day.

except for the "balao" which she stores in a covered glazed clay jar, all dried/salted items were hung on top of the kitchen's expose beam to air dry and coupled with the kitchen heat (when in use) reduce moisture. the high beam was also a deterent for our cats, known to snatch food.

don't get me wrong, "may inga" would also buy fresh fish & meat but they had to be cooked a.s.a.p. when we get home, since we did not have any "ice box" to keep them. we had “free-range/free-roaming” poultries, while eggs & vegetables were abundant in our backyard.

reflecting on my childhood memories,
i came up with some recipies i've learned thru observation & eating.
let me share with you the taste of "bicol express" cooked the barrio way with substituted ingredients that are locally available to me. it may not be as authentic but the taste is just as good.

living abroad, some ingredients can be difficult to find, so i resort to substitution or at times improvise.
as we bicolanos say "mabubuhay sa bakilid", literally means: "to survive on a cliff".

BICOL EXPRESS ala BARRIO

4 lbs jalapeño peppers
1/2 lbs serrano peppers
1 lb smoked or grilled mackerel
3 Tbsp balao/alamang or shrimp paste
2 (18 oz) cans coconut milk/cream
4-6 garlic cloves (crushed)
salt

IMPORTANT:
*wear disposable gloves when working with peppers
*light-up some aromatic candles/incense sticks or heat up some coffee grounds.
*turn air vent fan to the max
(1) remove from peppers: stems, seeds & center membranes and cut diagonally. soak in cold water and drain in a collander, shaking off more unwanted seeds out.

(2) debone grilled/smoked mackerel and cut by hand into flakes or chunks.
(3) use a heavy gauge 4-6 quarts pot, turn on heat to high.
(4) put crushed garlic with about 2 Tbsp of coconut milk in the pot and squash, as the coconut cream boils to near oily.
(5) make sure your vent is on to max & and your candles/incenses are lited.
(6) sauté your balao/alamang with the garlic and add one can of coconut milk/cream.
(7) let mixture boil, stir constantly so as not to stick & burn at the bottom of the pan. add all your your sliced pepper and stir to avoid over boiling.
(8) after the first boil, turn down heat to medium and simmer until liquid from the peppers have thinned out. occassionally stir the coocking peppers.
(9) mix in last can of coconut milk/cream and let boil, then fold in fish flakes/chunks.
(10) simmer until creamy (thick & a bit oily) sauce. add salt to taste.

for more authenticity your "bicol express" needs to be simmered until sauce is thick and "nag latab-latab" or "nag lana-lana", meaning until it sparkles with a glint of coconut oil floating.

NOTE:
**when substituting dried salted fish for grilled mackerel, reduce amount of balao/shrimp paste or NONE at all.
**if you want your "bicol express" with a kick... do not remove seeds & membranes from the peppers. leave it on, be warned:
have a gallon of ice & water ready with your first taste.
**i used some ripe serranos to add color

AFTER YOU'VE EMPTIED THE POT,
DO NOT WASH OFF OR RINSE - MAKE SOME "NI-LINÔ".

after you've emptied the pot with the bicol express, get several scoops of left-over steamed rice "ba-aw" and wipe it in the pan with your laddle. the bicol express residues and scrappings from the pot sides will flavor your rice. add salt to taste. hmmmm! just like stir-fry/fried rice but better, "NI-LINÔ" or "LI-NINÔ" is always a treat.

LINÔ process also minimize your scrubbing/soap/water when you need to wash the pot. back then it was called "tipid" - frugal, but now it's the "IN" thing as in going GREEN. RECYCLE, save the earth! go ORGANIC! anyway, what ever it is...enjoy your this taste of bicol the old barrio way.