Beef shank and bone marrow simmered for hours into a clear, deeply savory soup with corn, cabbage, and pechay. A Batangas and Tagalog comfort-food classic — the marrow, scooped straight from the bone, is the whole point.
Bulalo takes its name from the Batangas town where it's said to have become a specialty, though it's eaten across the country today, especially in cooler weather or high up in the mountains, where a bowl of hot marrow broth is exactly what the occasion calls for. Unlike a lot of Filipino soups, it leans almost entirely on the beef itself for flavor — no fish sauce-heavy broth or sour tamarind base, just long-simmered bone and meat.
The marrow bone is non-negotiable — it's what separates bulalo from a simpler beef soup like nilaga. As the shank simmers for a couple of hours, the marrow slowly renders into the broth and softens inside the bone, ready to be scooped out with a small spoon once the bowl reaches the table.
Ask your butcher to cut the shank crosswise into rounds (osso buco-style) so the marrow is exposed and easy to scoop.
They're very close relatives — both are clear beef-and-vegetable soups — but bulalo specifically uses beef shank with the marrow bone left in, prized for scooping out the marrow, while nilaga is more flexible about the cut of beef used.
Blanching the shank first and skimming off the scum that rises in the first few minutes of simmering are the two biggest factors — skipping either tends to leave the broth cloudier.
Yes — pressure cooking the beef shank for about 45 minutes gets it fork-tender much faster than a 2-hour open simmer, though some cooks feel the open-pot method gives a clearer, more developed broth.
