Our local Sam’s club now carries beef tongue. It costs around 20 dollars for a 3 lb one. I consider lengua as a sort of a delicacy because of the time and effort that goes with it’s preparation. Offal or organ meats is widely used and consumed in the Philippines and most countries in Asia for that matter. This is my first attempt at making this dish. After consulting my mom and several recipes online this is what I came up with.
First, rinse or wash your beef tongue really well in running water. I poured about 2 tbsp. white vinegar on it too while rinsing to remove the slime and blood . Then I filled a deep pot with water and added 2 tbsp. baking soda and the beef tongue. I let this come to a boil and cook it for about 2-3 minutes to remove any funky odor. Then I drained and rinsed it under running water. This time I filled the pressure cooker with enough water to cover the beef tongue and added 1 medium onion sliced, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp. peppercorn, 2 bay leaf and 2 tbsp. salt. I pressure cooked this for 45 minutes. Take it out of the pot and place in a container and cool for a bit before covering in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minumum of 4 hours to overnight.
To prepare the tongue, remove from the refrigerator. Then make a small slit on top of tongue and peel the tough/rough skin covering it. Slice the beef tongue at a diagonal. Pan fry the slices in butter until warmed through. Arrange this in a platter.
To make the sauce, saute 1 minced shallot in butter, then add about 4-5 pieces of sliced white mushroom and 1 small can of button mushroom. Then I added 1 can of cream of mushroom soup diluted with about 1 cup of milk. Let this simmer until sauces is smooth and thick. I added about 1 tbsp liquid knorr seasoning or worcestershire sauce. Spoon sauce over the beef tongue and serve warm.
Filipino typically eat this with rice but I served mine with curly fries and carrots/peas.
