I've been skimming through the beautiful pages of my new cookbook and finding that through cooking, I'm beginning to rediscover my roots. Starting with this dish whose name "bulalo" originated in Batangas, my city of birth. (I had no idea.) Unlike baking, cooking in my opinion is not exact science. It's all about finding the balance in flavors; and if there's one thing I've learned from watching my family cook, it's all about "a little of this and a little of that". I think that's what makes a proper cook.
Equipped with that mentality, I dove right into making beef bulalo. Deviating from the recipe from the start, I slow boiled the beef shank at very low temperature for three hours, leaving it extremely tender like butter! Then slowly adding and taking the simple vegetables (as they cook in different temperatures and times) from the boiling pot of broth until they are just perfectly cooked. Lastly, assembling all the parts together to make this perfect plate of harmony.
For those of you familiar with this dish, you'll notice that this beef and vegetables is very similar to "nilagang baka", which as the book explains is becoming an interchangeable term with "bulalo".
My husband and I had a "Julie and Julia" thought this evening... With my love for Filipino food and this cookbook, I may just be inspired to cook and blog my way through KULINARIA. *wink* Bonne Appétit!
P.S. I should mention this cookbook has the instructions for making lechon. Can you just imagine it? Lil' ol' me roasting an entire pig in our Lavender Hill yard!? LOL! (You'll laugh at the image of it too knowing that our yard has no privacy whatsoever.)
2 comments:
wow, this look so delicious. I will be waiting for your next recipe and that will be great if you can have lechon in your backyard.
looks sooo good and i love the way you took pics ate! imagine if you really made lechon, that would be soo awesome!!!
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