Filipino food is ripe with examples of comfort meals, and one of my favorites is beef nilaga, also called nilagang baka. This hearty meal features a piping hot homemade broth with tender chunks of beef and a colorful array of fresh vegetables, such as cabbage, potatoes, bok choy, and corn. All of its elements are thoughtfully prepared to ensure each bite of nilagang baka’s melt-in-your-mouth beef, buttery bits of bone marrow and tendon, and unctuous vegetable-laden broth is a symphony of textures, colors, and flavors.
A Brief History of Beef Nilaga
In the Philippines, to laga means to stew, boil, or cook in water. Nilaga is the act of cooking in water and the noun used before or after the word signifies what kind of meat was used—in this case baka, meaning beef, comes together with “laga” to make “nilagang baka.” Nilaga is a pre-colonial cooking method used all over the different islands of the Philippines. However, beef was not an ingredient in the earliest versions of this soup—instead, it typically was made with pork and vegetable scraps.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Spanish colonizers brought cattle from Mexico to Masbate via the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade—a Spanish trade route that connected the Philippines to Mexico across the Pacific Ocean from the late 16th to early 19th century. The Spanish set up ranches and imported cattle, which they crossed with the Chinese Yellow cow to make four Philippine heritage breeds, now recognized as native cattle.
Beef became the symbol of luxury in the Philippines and was reserved for the elite. Beef is still an expensive meat in the Philippines—only the wealthy consume prime cuts like ribeye or tenderloin regularly, while for everyone else these cuts are reserved for celebrations. But offal like tendons and cheaper “off cuts” like shank do show up frequently in everyday meals, as they do in this robust soup.
My Tips and Special Techniques for the Ultimate Beef Nilaga
Regional variations prove this soup’s versatility, and each cook adds their own twists to the classic recipe. They might use pork, chicken, or fish instead of beef; include sangkot (add ons) such as saba banana ( a short, thick Filipino banana); omit ingredients like tendons; or tweak the soup depending on what is available or in season. Some love nilaga with a splash of fish sauce, others prefer a fiery kick from chiles served on the side as a garnish, and still others keep it simple, letting the meat and vegetables shine on their own.
While my beef nilaga resembles and tastes like the traditional versions I know and love, it features my own technique twists on the traditional soup. To start, instead of slowly simmering the beef bones for many hours to make the stock (some recipes call for simmering the stock and meat for over eight hours!), I use a pressure cooker. While it’s still a lengthy preparation for this soup, using the pressure cooker shaves hours off of the cooking time.
After the broth is prepared, for intense, rich beef flavor, I opt for a combination of tendons and beef shank. I love the silky, bouncy texture of tendons and beef shank’s rich beef flavor, especially in soups. Pressure-cooking the shanks and tendons together with the prepared beef stock saves hours of simmering time, and further infuses the broth with rich meaty flavor and collagen for a velvety texture.
While most homestyle beef nilaga recipes call for simmering the beef and vegetables all in the same pot until they’re very soft, I’m approaching this dish as one would approach ramen or pho, with the different components of the soup coming together in the bowl, rather than in the pot. To do so, the corn and potatoes are roasted separately before they're added to the soup. This deepens their flavor and helps them retain their shape in the bowl.
I know this is a departure from the one-pot cooking methods usually applied to most Filipino home dishes. However, being able to enjoy and celebrate each perfectly cooked ingredient of the soup in each bite is worth the extra effort.
For the beef stock: Fill a large stockpot halfway with cold water. Add bones and bring to a boil over high heat until you see bubbles forming at the top and the blood and other impurities are drawn out of the bones, about 5 minutes. Drain the bones to rinse off any remaining scum, then pat dry.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly coat bones with oil and arrange in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet or in a roasting pan. Roast, turning bones once or twice, until beginning to turn golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
Transfer roasted beef bones to a stovetop or electric pressure cooker (such as an Instant Pot). Pour off and discard (or save for another use) any accumulated fat from the pan. Pour a thin layer of boiling water into the still-hot roasting pan and scrape up any browned bits. Pour pan juices into the pressure cooker. Add enough cold water to bring level to the cooker's max-fill line; do not let water exceed the max-fill line, even if some solids are not submerged.
Close pressure cooker lid, bring to high pressure, and cook for 2 hours 30 minutes. Allow cooker to depressurize naturally. Carefully open cooker and strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pot. Discard solids, though if there's shank meat in there, be sure to reserve it to add to the soup. (At this stage the broth can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months before continuing with the recipe.)
For the beef shank and tendons: Pat beef shanks dry, and sprinkle evenly all over with 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 tablespoon pepper. Set on a large plate or sheet pan and refrigerate, uncovered for 1 to 12 hours.
Once broth is prepared through step 4, In a large cast iron or stainless-steel skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat until just smoking, add beef shanks in batches if needed, and sear on all sides until browned and caramelized, turning as needed, about 10 minutes.
Return the now-strained beef broth (about 2 1/2 quarts) to the pressure cooker and add the seared shanks and tendons along with the reserved leek green tops, scallions, ginger, 1/2 tablespoon garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally, about 30 minutes, then transfer shanks and tendons to a large bowl or plate and set aside. Strain the beef broth into a large soup pot or Dutch oven; discard strained aromatics. Add the cooked shanks and tendons to the broth in the large pot; set aside.
For the corn and potatoes: Adjust oven rack to upper middle and lower middle positions and set oven temperature to 425°F (220℃). In a rimmed baking sheet, arrange corn and drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, making sure to coat all sides. On a separate rimmed baking sheet, toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons oil, season with salt and pepper, and spread into an even layer. Roast both sheet pans, corn on upper-middle rack and potatoes on lower-middle pack, until corn is browned all over, 20 to 30 minutes, and potatoes are cooked through and edges turn brown and crisp, about 20 minutes, flipping food on sheet trays about half way through. Set sheet trays aside.
Once corn is cool enough to handle, cut kernels from cobs and reserve kernels. (Cobs can be reserved for making a separate vegetable stock.)
For the fried garlic: In a small skillet, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil and remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic over medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is crispy and brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
For finishing the soup: To the large soup pot with the beef stock and meat, add the leek bottoms, cabbage, bok choy, onion, and fish sauce and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until onions, cabbage, and bok choy soften and turn translucent, about 20 minutes. Season broth to taste with extra fish sauce or salt, if needed.
Stir in the corn and cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Portion the meat and divide the soup evenly into individual bowls, topping with portions of the roasted potatoes. Garnish with scallions and prepared fried garlic with oil and serve.
Special Equipment
Large stock pot or Dutch oven, pressure cooker, strainer, small skillet
Notes
For the broth, make sure the beef bones are cut short enough to fit into your pressure cooker (ask your butcher to cut them shorter if not). You can use any assortment of bones your butcher has, but bones with bits of meat still attached will give more flavor, while connective tissue–rich options like joints and feet will deliver more gelatin to the stock; you can also include some veal bones for even more gelatin. A cross-cut beef shank, while not required, will boost the flavor even more; add the meat to the soup so it doesn't go to waste.
I recommend saving the trimmings when you prepare the cabbage, bok choy, leeks, ginger, and onion; you can use them (as well as the roasted corn cobs) to make a vegetable stock for another use.
If you prefer to use boneless shanks, cut into 2-inch cubes and follow the recipe as written for bone-in shanks.
If you like, you can use other vegetables, such as green beans, carrots, napa cabbage, or mushrooms instead of or in addition to the vegetables in the recipe. Monitor their simmering time and cook until they are just tender.
Make-Ahead and Storage
- The beef stock can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months before continuing with the recipe.
- You can also pressure cook the shanks and tendons ahead of time, cover and refrigerate broth, shanks, and cooked tendons for up to 3 days, and heat up to serve with the soup.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
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