Gotong Batangas is a Filipino soup dish prepared with different beef offal like liver, tripe, lungs, heart and tendons together with beef shanks with lots of garlic and ginger.
Goto for most is usually a Filipino rice porridge loaded with tons of garlic and ginger, mostly cooked with some sliced of tripe, in Batangas it is a different story while both are soupy and garlicky the similarity ends there because Gotong Batangas does not contain rice at all, instead it is filled with innards and meat, lots of it.
Another big difference from the Manileño’s goto is the flavour, while both dishes contain tripe the meat flavour ends there as this dish has a slight sour flavour thanks to the vinegar, the colour is different as well, with a bright orange tint from the annatto which makes it vibrant and more pleasing to the eyes. Gotong Batangas was said to have originated in Lipa City and you can enjoy one it the popular gotohan joint called Gotohan sa Barangay in Barangay Antipolo del Norte.
It is just logical that this dish was created there, as most Filipinos know Batangas is synonymous to beef, I even remember when we want a good quality beef back in the Philippines my mom drives almost two hours from Quezon City to buy them fresh there, equipped with our ice boxes at the trunk of our car to maintain its freshness. It was so fresh I still vividly remember the meats sold in the markets was still twitching even-though it was dressed and cut already, it was warm and smoking due to the difference in the Batangas early morning cool temperature. I guess to make use of the offal or innards this was created like most Filipino offal recipes, and I am glad they did as this dish is very hearty delicious, a true comfort meal for most. I know it’s not for everyone but you can still do this using non offal beef parts, taste will be a bit different but it will be close, also if you are using just the meat then you will be missing out on the texture the different offal ingredients can give, liver, tripe, lungs, heart and tendons it is a confusing myriad of feel, appearance and consistency in your mouth.
Gotong Batangas is a Filipino soup dish prepared with different beef offal like liver, tripe, lungs, heart and tendons together with beef shanks with lots of garlic and ginger.
1 thumb sized ginger, sliced into thin matchsticks
oil
chopped spring onions, to garnish
fried garlic, to garnish
Instructions
In a bowl soak both types of tripe in one cup of vinegar and generous amounts of salt, set it aside for 30 minutes.
Drain tripe and rinse with running cold water. Drain again of excess water.
Generously season shank meat, tripe and heart with salt and freshly ground black pepper. In a large pot add oil then brown the seasoned meats and offal in batches, removing everything in pot after every batch. Set meat aside, place in a bowl then pour the remaining half cup of vinegar, let it marinate.
Using the same pot add oil if necessary, then sauté garlic, ginger and onions.
Add the annatto powder, gently fry until powder dissolves into oil.
Add beef tendons then pour rice wash and beef stock, bring it to a boil then slowly simmer in low heat for one hour.
Drain vinegar from tripe, heart and shank meat, add into the pot then continue to simmer for one hour in low heat.
Add the chillies and beef liver then continue to simmer for 20 minutes, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve in bowls garnished with chopped spring onions and fried garlic.
First of all, this looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Secondly, though, I want to tell everyone we’re having gotong batangas for dinner. It sounds so cool!
This looks and sounds amazing! I want to try this, but I need to know what “rice wash” is. Can you explain, please? Thank you!
Its the water you used for washing the rice. Basically you are using the rice starch extracted from washing the rice.
So basically, just what it sounds like! Thank you for the clarification. 🙂