Beef Short Ribs Nilaga
Nilaga is basically soup with beef, potatoes and veggies, simmered for what seems like forever. Well, half-a-day perhaps. I would easily declare this as the easiest Filipino dish anyone could make and all you really need is A LOT of patience. It’s a perfect soup dish for the breezy cool Fall weather.
Most people would cook this using cubed beef from a roast or the whole roast itself, I decided to use the short ribs kind coz it has the right amount of meat and fat that I know would be really delicious after simmering for hours.
FYI, I started cooking this at 12pm, and we ate dinner at almost 5pm.
Beef Short Ribs Nilaga
Ingredients
- 2 packs 1 1/2 pounds of short ribs
- 16 cups water
- 5 medium potatoes peeled
- 1 sm head of cabbage quartered
- a bunch of green beans
- salt, adjust as you cook
- peppercorn, whole or grounded (or use regular black pepper, adjust the amount as you cook)
Instructions
- Heat up oil in a pot. Brown the short ribs in batches. 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer the browned short ribs in a platter. Repeat with the other batch. Drain the grease from the pot once all the short ribs have been browned.
- Place the ribs back into the pot, including the juices from the platter. Add 8 cups of water. Season with salt and lots and lots of ground peppercorn. Use whole cloves of peppercorn if you want. Or 2 tbsp of ground black pepper if peppercorn is not available.
- Stir, then cover the pot. Simmer in medium heat for 3 hours. Stir occasionally.
- After 2 1/2 hours, add 4 more cups of water and peeled potatoes. Cover it back up and simmer for another 30-35 minutes. Check the potatoes if they’re tender. If they are, take them out and set aside in a bowl.
- Add quartered cabbages and green beans. Simmer for another 30 minutes or so. Add more water if necessary. Add more salt and pepper according to your taste. Place the potatoes back into the pot before turning the stove off. Stir a couple of times.
You can eat this as is but if you want it to really stick to your ribs(hah), have a cup of rice on the side. Trust me, it’s GOOD!
