A Steaming Bowl of This Filipino Beef Soup Brings Unparalleled Comfort

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.)

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Once corn is cool enough to handle, cut kernels from cobs and reserve kernels. (Cobs can be reserved for making a separate vegetable stock.)

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.