Nilaga (also written as nilagà) is a traditional meat stew or soup from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, made with boiled

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

(nilagang baka) or

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

(nilagang baboy) mixed with various vegetables such as sweet corn, potatoes, kale, and bok choy. It is typically eaten with

white rice White rice is milled rice that has had the husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the seed; helps prevent spoilage (extends its storage life); and makes it easier to digest. After brown rice is milled ...

and is served with

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

, patis (fish sauce),

labuyo chili ''Siling labuyo'' is a small chili pepper cultivar that developed in the Philippines after the Columbian Exchange. It belongs to the species ''Capsicum frutescens'' and is characterized by triangular fruits that grow pointing upwards. The fruit ...

s, and calamansi on the side.

Description

Nilaga is one of the simplest dishes in the Philippines. It typically uses tender and fatty cuts of meat like sirloin,

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

, ribs or brisket. These are boiled until fork-tender then spiced with

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, garlic,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, whole black peppercorns, scallions, patis (fish sauce), and sometimes lemongrass,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

star anise ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...

, or

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used as a herb in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. The flavour that a bay leaf ...

. The broth is also commonly enriched with

bouillon cube A bouillon cube (also known as a stock cube) is dehydrated broth or stock formed into a small cube or other cuboid shape. The most common format is a cube about wide. It is typically made from dehydrated vegetables or meat stock, a small port ...

s. Various vegetables are then added with the dish. The most basic vegetables used are pechay (or cabbage) and

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es. Other vegetables that can be used include carrots, saba bananas, calabaza,

string bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean ('' Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedali ...

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'' Dulce Group or ''Apium graveolens'' var. ''dulce'') is a cultivated plant belonging to the species ''Apium graveolens'' in the family Apiaceae that has been used as a vegetable since ancient times. The original wild ...

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

, cauliflower, chayote, corn on the cob, baby corn,

bell pepper The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diff ...

s, and sweet potatoes, among others. Nilaga can be eaten on its own, but it is typically eaten with

. It is served with

, patis (fish sauce),

s, and calamansi on the side, which can be added to taste.

Similar dishes

Chicken or seafood versions of the dish are usually called tinola. Nilaga is very similar to other dishes like bulalo, linat-an, lauya, and

cansi ' () is a Filipino cuisine, Filipino beef soup originating from Iloilo which is spread across the rest of the Western Visayas region. It is made with beef shank and Bone marrow (food), bone marrow boiled until gelatinous. It is uniquely slight ...

. Nilaga can be distinguished in that it has a

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups ...

(bouillon) base, made with tender meaty and fatty cuts of beef or pork. The other dishes have a

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

base, made by using bone marrow and

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the connective tissues of many animals. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of protein content. Amino acids are bound together to form a trip ...

-rich cuts of beef and pork (like beef shank and ham hocks). "Nilaga" (which means "boiled" in Tagalog) is also used for other unrelated dishes like boiled peanuts, corn on the cob, or saba bananas.

References

{{Beef Philippine stews Philippine soups Philippine beef dishes Philippine pork dishes

Description

Similar dishes

See also

References