Angel’s still busy watching his DVD of The Wiggles so I figured I could take a moment to answer this question from Aurora Miyata (no e-mail or URL provided) about whether or not she should put ginger in her Nilagang Baka. No, no, no… no ginger in the Nilagang Baka please. Maghunos-dili ka, Aurora, hindi nilalagyan ng luya ang Nilagang Baka. (I’m not being presumptive, I know, thinking Aurora is Pinay..)
Nilagang Baka is very basic and it’s something I whip up just for the bone marrow treat. My favorite part is Beef Shin which has marbling that is perfect for long term boiling. I boil the beef and skim the fat off when it boils, and when I feel I’ve gotten rid of sufficient scum, I add at least a half teaspoon of WHOLE peppercorn and then I quarter a whole onion. I let it simmer until the meat is tender enough, and then thirty minutes before serving, I add any bone marrow I have. You adjust and season with fish sauce of patis. It’s in the last half hour that you can also add the vegetables, although there are times when I cook this just to have a good helping of bone marrow or litid which are tendons, so yummy when tenderized correctly.
The chinese grocery sometimes sells the bone marrow with other suitable beef stock ingredients for $1 a bag, and I try to grab it even if I don’t have the beef shin, and just boil it for the stock and for the marrow which I love to eat with some patis and calamansi.
Good luck, Aurora!
