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balbacua bowl

Balbacua Recipe

Balbacua is a Filipino stew made with ox feet, ox tail, or beef skin slowly cooked until the meat becomes soft and gelatinous. The sauce is thick, savory, slightly sweet, and flavorful from ingredients like star anise, annatto oil, fermented black beans, peanut butter, pineapple chunks, and pork and beans. If you have never cooked anything like this before, think of it as a beef stew, but with a thicker sauce.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 pounds ox feet ox tail, beef skin, or a mix
  • Water for blanching
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 thumb-sized piece ginger
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 tablespoon achuete seeds
  • 1 tablespoon margarine
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 green long chilies
  • 3 pieces star anise
  • 1 small can fermented black beans drained, about 180 grams
  • ¼ cup tomato paste or ¾ cup tomato sauce
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened peanut butter
  • 1 small can pineapple chunks drained, about 137 grams
  • 1 can pork and beans about 390 grams
  • 1 medium red bell pepper sliced into strips
  • 1 piece chili labuyo chopped
  • Fish sauce or salt to taste

Method
 

  1. Blanch the ox feet. Place the ox feet, ox tail, or beef skin in a pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Drain, discard the water, and rinse the meat well.
  2. Tenderize the meat. In a pressure cooker or large pot, add 8 cups water, ginger, salt, and the cleaned meat. Pressure cook for 45 to 60 minutes, or simmer in a regular pot for about 2 hours until tender.
  3. Reserve the broth. Remove the tender meat from the pot and set it aside. Save about 2 cups of the cooking broth for the sauce.
  4. Make the achuete oil. Heat oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Add the achuete seeds and cook for about 1 minute, or until the oil turns deep orange. Remove and discard the seeds.
  5. Sauté the aromatics. Add margarine to the achuete oil. Sauté the onion, garlic, and green chilies until fragrant.
  6. Add the meat and seasonings. Add the tender ox feet, star anise, and fermented black beans. Stir well so the meat absorbs the flavor.
  7. Make the sauce. Pour in 2 cups of reserved broth. Add tomato paste and peanut butter. Stir until the sauce becomes smooth and well combined.
  8. Finish the stew. Add pineapple chunks, pork and beans, bell pepper, and chili labuyo. Season with fish sauce or salt. Simmer for 5 minutes or longer until the sauce is thick and flavorful.

Notes

Do not skip the blanching step. It helps clean the meat and gives the stew a better taste. If you are using a regular pot instead of a pressure cooker, be patient and simmer until the meat is tender. The texture should be soft and slightly sticky, not tough.
Use unsweetened peanut butter so the sauce does not become too sweet. Also, add the pineapple near the end so it keeps its flavor and does not completely disappear into the sauce.
If the sauce gets too thick, add a little more broth. If it tastes flat, add a splash of fish sauce.

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