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Nilagang Baka

I just finished working a 14 -hour day and came home to Chinese take-out. I wonder if I should have just eaten the leftovers from the Nilagang Baka I made the other day.

When we were growing up my parents would go Saturday mornings to the market near our house. Cartimar in the '70s and '80s was busy, noisy, crowded; fruits and vegetables in one area, fish in another, and meat and poultry in a third. You would make the rounds of your different suki, giving your order for that day, before going home with a full bayong of food, meats and heavier items on the bottom, and fruits and vegies on top. (I remember wondering then why we couldn't buy our food all nicely packaged in plastic!)

We always had Saturday lunch together as a family then, with my dad as chef. I don't use oxtail or marrow bones now, but you're welcome to tweak this recipe as you see fit!

(Serves 4 with left-overs)

Prepare steamed rice. Rinse vegetables and drain before chopping. Rinse meat and pat dry.

1 to 2 lbs beef round, chopped into 3- to 4-inch cubes
1 to 2 onions, peeled and diced
1 small head of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 to 3 tomatoes, diced
1 to 2 lbs Bok Choy or Napa cabbage, trimmed and chopped, separating white stalks from the leaves
2 to 4 green onions, sliced thinly either as rounds or diagonally
1/2 to 1 cup Nam Pla, Nuoc Mam, or Patis
salt and pepper
sugar and/or 1 to 2 bananas, sliced in 2- to 3-inch lengths (Alternately you can use plaintains but these aren't as sweet)
cooking oil (Canola or corn oil)
water

In a large, preferably heavy-bottomed pot, heat a few tablespoons of cooking oil over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Saute for several minutes until the onions are translucent, being careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the chopped meat, oxtails, marrow bones, and saute at a higher heat setting, to brown the meat on all sides. Add enough water to cover the meat, plus 1/4 cup of Nam Pla and 1/8 cup sugar (if you are not using the bananas to sweeten the stew). Reduce the heat setting to low, cover the pot, and allow to simmer until the meat is tender (approximately 20 - 40 min), stirring occasionally. Adjust the flavor with salt, pepper, more Nam Pla or sugar.

During the last 15 mins of cooking, add the bananas and the white stalks of the vegetables, then when tender add the leaves and the green onions.

Serve hot with white rice.

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