Balbacua
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ox feet ox tail, skin, or a mix of them
- water for blanching
- 8 cups water
- 1 piece ginger thumb-sized
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon achuete seeds
- 1 tablespoon margarine
- 1 onion medium
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 green long chilies
- 3 pieces star anise
- 1 can fermented black beans drained (180 grams)
- ¼ cup tomato paste or ¾ cup of tomato sauce
- ⅓ cup unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 can pineapple chunks drained (137 grams)
- 1 can pork and beans 390 grams
- 1 red bell pepper medium and cut into strips
- 1 piece chili labuyo chopped
- Fish sauce or salt to taste
Instructions
- Start by giving your ox feet a quick blanch. Place them in a pot or pressure cooker and add enough water to submerge them. Bring it to a boil over high heat, leaving it uncovered for about 10 minutes. After that, remove the pot from the heat, discard the water, and rinse the meat well.
- Next, in the same pot or pressure cooker, add 8 cups of water, ginger, and salt. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Put the ox feet back in and close the lid. Pressure cook for 45-60 minutes or simmer in a regular pot for 2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Once it’s done, remove the meat from the broth and set it aside, reserving about 2 cups of broth.
- In a wide wok or pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the achuete seeds. Cook for about 1 minute until the oil turns a deep orange color, and then remove the seeds using a slotted spoon.
- Melt the margarine in the same pot and sauté the onion, garlic, and green chilies until they become aromatic.
- Add the ox feet, star anise, and black beans. Give it all a good stir until everything is nicely distributed.
- Pour in 2 cups of the reserved broth and add the tomato paste and peanut butter. Stir until they’re well dissolved.
- Now, it’s time to add the pineapple chunks, pork and beans, bell pepper, and chili labuyo. Season with fish sauce or salt according to your taste. Let it simmer for 5 minutes or more.
- Turn off the heat, and your delicious Ox Feet and Peanut Stew is ready to be served. Enjoy it with a side of steamed rice!
Details Behind my Balbacua Recipe
Balbacua Recipe – Filipino cuisine has a range of dishes to try, and among them are a range of soups and stews. Many Filipino soups and stews feature vegetables and protein as the stars. A few of them also feature unorthodox ingredients like ox parts. This is where balbacua comes in. Balbacua is a traditional Filipino beef stew hailing from the Visayan region, particularly Cebu. This hearty dish features tenderized ox feet, pineapple chunks, pork and beans, and bell peppers.
The ingredients simmered in a flavorful stew infused with annatto, star anise, and peanut butter. The name “Balbacua” is believed to be derived from the Spanish word “barbacoa,” signifying the slow cooking of meat over an open flame for hours. However, modern recipes often utilize a pressure cooker to expedite the process.
Other Dishes That Feature Cow/Ox
Balbacua is not the only dish to feature ox/cow parts as the protein. Another soup/stew dish that features an ox part is Callos. Callos is a stew made with ox tripe, smoked sausage, beans, and bell peppers cooked in tomato sauce and spices. What is ox tripe? Ox tripe is the stomach lining of an ox, which may not sound appealing, but it absorbs flavors nicely and becomes tender when cooked.
There is also papaitan, which can feature cow innards as the protein. Papaitan is a well-known Ilocano soup made with cow or goat innards. Its name, “Papaitan,” means “bitter” in Filipino due to the bitter taste coming from bile, a digestive juice stored in the gallbladder.
Another stew dish featuring beef is Beef Pares. Beef Pares is a flavorful beef stew that is traditionally served with rice and soup. The dish commonly uses beef brisket but other cuts of beef can be used as well so long as they can be tenderized.
Other Soup/Stew Recipes Like a Balbacua Recipe
Aside from the mentioned dishes, there are plenty of other soup/stew dishes that feature a variety of protein. One other soup/stew dish that features an unorthodox main ingredient is Ginataang Langka. Ginataang Langka is a classic Filipino dish made with unripe jackfruit cooked in coconut milk and spices. You can add seafood, meat, or other veggies to make it even tastier. It’s usually served with shrimp paste and can be made spicy with chilis or tangy with vinegar.
If you want to try a stew dish with more known ingredients that is not as popular, there is Igado. Igado is a dish that mixes pork liver, tenderloin cuts, and other organs like the heart and kidney. Typically, it includes vegetables like potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and green peas, but some versions may also add ingredients like radish, ginger, and chili peppers.
Additional Notes for a Balbacua Recipe
Just like any other recipe, there are different tips and tricks to getting the best results for this dish. When making Balbacua, it’s crucial to blanch the ox feet first to remove impurities before pressure cooking or boiling them. Be careful not to overheat the annatto seeds while cooking; they can pop, so remove them from the oil when bubbles appear to avoid bitterness. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, simmer the ox feet in a pot over medium-low heat for 2-3 hours until they’re tender. For extra flavor and servings, think about adding pechay and saba bananas, frying them before putting them in the stew. The desired outcome for Balbacua is a thick, sticky consistency.
If you want to try out other stew recipes, check out our Pata Tim and Chicken Menudo Recipes. You can also explore other trotter dishes like Crispy Pata.
