The Elusive Bulcachong Part 2

I had attempted to cook Davao-based Bulcachong before but it ended up like kare-kare as I narrated in my previous blog. Having no time and moolah, I sent my sister to go to the place where Bulcachong was created to check out the restaurant and food and to let me know how was it.

I'll let her blog this one for me :)

Bulcachong is a small old fashioned house turned into a simple restaurant.  It's known for its bulcachong, which is where it got its name.

This place isn't so hard to find since it's located at the heart of the city.  Just few steps away from JS Gaisano, you could spot this small resto.

In Pursuit of the Davao Real Chocolate

This is the book that started my journey to finding real chocolate.

I have always liked chocolate.

But my affection reached to a whole new level during my frequent visits in Xocolat. In that restaurant, I began to read a book by Chloe Doutre-Roussel ,'The Chocolate Connoisseur: For Everyone With A Passion For Chocolate'.

The Elusive Bulcachong

For any friends of mine who say that they are from a certain province or they have traveled a specific locale, I've always asked what are the special cuisines of the place.

For example, the spicy Bicol Express is commonly known to originate from Bicol, while Lechon is the prime culinary feat of Cebu. Pampanga, the culinary capital of the country , had produced unforgettable dishes such as sisig,longganisa,tocino and Kare-kare.

Although I am a Davaoena, I'm not sure what certain dish we can dub as exclusively from Davao.I asked my friends for their opinion and one of them mentioned: ' Bulcachong'.

Having heard about this for the first time, I did a quick research in the net and found this blog complete with picture and recipes.

Bulcachong is carabao meat stew with peanut butter, ginger, annato seeds and some spices. According to some blogs, this dish is reminiscent of Kansi in Iloilo.

After copying, I sent the recipe to my boyfriend and asked him to try to cook this dish over the weekend. The ingredients were easy to find, with the exception of carabao meat which we replaced with beef instead.

Served with blanched pechay as side dish. :D

The result was a stew that was reminiscent of kare-kare. I am not sure if we had exactly replicated the Davao dish but the taste was both sweet and spicy. Probably because we added too much peanut butter:P

Our first attempt at Bulcachong

The original Bulcachong

Nevertheless ,that won't stop me from trying to cook it again. Perhaps, I might reserve this Bulcachong tasting itenarary on my way back to Davao.