Linaga nga Pata sang Baka

Featuring my PERSONAL HERO on our fourth week of National Heroes Day Cookfest. 

My father was the chief cook when we were growing up and long before the word chef became a household word. He always saw to it then that we do have soup every day. He claims that the soup will make sure that our brains won't dry up and we will score high in our tests. Higup sabaw para indi magmala ang utok niyo.

So, on the occasion of his 66th birthday, we had his sinfully delicious pata nga linaga since tasting this dish will always remind us of his cooking and his love of feeding his children. In fact, I was lucky to have reserved the pata from the meatshop whose owners were his friends. They gave me a good young portion and cleaned. Bag-ong ihaw gid kag limpyo na.

Pata is the part which consists of the knee and down. The beef pata is best for linaga because it is bigger and won't easily fall off when boiled for hours to bring out the beefy taste in the broth. The jelly-like collagen joining the broth is the best there is and add to that is the soft shaking flesh of the part which melts in the mouth.Thus, it is crucial that the skin of each chunk is thoroughly cleaned. I don't want to eat and remark that I can feel my father's newly shaved chin (when we were small, he used his newly shaved chin to tease me by rubbing it on my arms as it feels grainy and sometimes painful or sometimes it feels funny).

Without him physically today on his birthday (and for the fifth time), I know that he is happy that we had one of his favorite dishes today.

THE RECIPE

5 kilos pata or beef leg chunks
1/4 kilo batwan
1/4 kilo red onions
2 heads of garlic
1/8 Taud Ilahas
2 knots of lemongrass
Salt to taste

Quickly boil the pata and drain. Clear the meat skin with hairs using a blade.

Bring to boil in high fire for an hour. Add all of the spices and salt. I boiled and mashed the batwan first to maximize the sourness. Bring to boil for 30 to 45 minutes. Adjust taste with salt. Serve piping hot with rice. 

#nationalheroesdaycookfest2020
#nationalheroesday

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