Bulalo

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Yesterday I cooked my first Filipino dish: Bulalo.  

I cooked this because one of my new friends said this was his favorite food growing up on Kauai.  I surprised him with this at lunch.

It was fun to use my neighborhood grocery store (Seafood City) to find ingredients.  Some of the main ingredients included beef bone joints, fish sauce, cabbage, broth, among other things.  


I added lemongrass to the stew, which was optional for the recipe.  This turned out to be a perfect addition.

The fish sauce came from the Philippines, and had chili peppers in it.  This gave it a slight "kick" in the end.

While the ingredients were different, the stew reminded me of good stews in the Midwest.

Basically, I seared the meat, filled the pot with water and broth, added the fish sauce, and then let it "stew" for a long time.  Until the meat was falling off the bone.

This was similar to a good chili or stew anywhere.


The recipe I followed can be found here.

As you can read, this stew is often called "Collagen Stew," because it highlights the bone marrow in flavor and health benefits.

I gave portions to a few friends I have met in town.

Everyone lived.

Some even said it was good.

Perhaps they were being polite.  

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