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–+ servings
beef papaitan

Beef Papaitan Recipe

Beef Papaitan is a Filipino soup made with beef innards simmered in a famously bitter broth. The dish includes a combination of beef tripe, intestines, heart, kidney, and liver. Beef bile provides its bitter flavor, while ginger, garlic, onion, and green chilies balance everything out. If you've never eaten innards before, I realize none of that sounds particularly reassuring. But properly cleaned and cooked, the different cuts become tender and delicious, and the broth develops a complexity that you simply don't get from an ordinary beef soup.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course, Snack, Soup
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb beef heart cut into cubes
  • 1 lb beef small intestine thoroughly cleaned
  • 1 lb beef tripe thoroughly cleaned
  • ½ lb beef liver cut into cubes
  • 1 lb beef kidney cut into cubes
  • 22 grams tamarind soup mix
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 thumb-sized pieces ginger divided and minced or sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic crushed
  • 3 long green chilies sliced
  • 8 cups water plus additional water for boiling the tripe and intestines
  • Beef bile to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Ground black pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons cooking oil
  • A few dried bay leaves for boiling the tripe and intestines

Method
 

  1. Clean and pre-cook the innards. Wash the beef tripe and small intestine thoroughly. Place them in a pot with fresh water, some of the ginger, and a few dried bay leaves. Boil for about 45 minutes. Drain, allow them to cool, and cut them into bite-sized pieces.
  2. Sauté the aromatics. Heat 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and remaining ginger. Sauté until the onion becomes soft and fragrant.
  3. Cook the heart and kidney. Add the cubed beef heart and kidney. Sauté until the outside of the meat turns lightly brown.
  4. Add the tripe and intestine. Stir in the sliced tripe and small intestine and cook everything together for about 2 minutes.
  5. Simmer until tender. Pour in 8 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and gently simmer until the heart, kidney, tripe, and intestines are tender.
  6. Add the liver and bile. Stir in the beef liver. Add a small amount of beef bile, stir, and taste before adding more. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
  7. Season the broth. Stir in the tamarind soup mix. Add the sliced long green chilies and season with salt and ground black pepper. Taste and adjust the bile, sourness, salt, and pepper as needed.
  8. Finish and serve. Simmer for another 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. Ladle the papaitan into bowls and serve piping hot.

Notes

The most important step happens before you start cooking: clean the innards extremely well. Papaitan should smell appetizing, not announce what its ingredients used to do for a living. Pre-boiling the tripe and intestine with ginger and bay leaves helps remove some of their strong odor and flavor.
My second rule is to treat beef bile like an extremely enthusiastic seasoning. Start with very little, stir it into the broth, and taste. Add more only when necessary. The ideal amount depends on your preference and the strength of the bile you're using.
I also recommend simmering rather than aggressively boiling the soup once everything is together. Give the tougher cuts enough time to become tender. Papaitan isn't a dish that benefits from impatience.
Finally, keep tasting the broth. You're looking for a balance between bitter, sour, salty, spicy, and savory.

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