beef tongue with mushroom sauce
i wasn’t able to take a decent photograph. bleh. but i can say, it was very tasty.
finally i found fresh beef tongue at the supermarket, but it was “deconstructed” into three packets. i wonder why? perhaps the meat managers thought the sight of a whole tongue would razz the tongue-phobic customers too much.
the recipe is based on Nora Daza’s Galing Galing (“lengua con champignon” which made my kids laugh). husband was doubtful at first because i used white wine instead of red…i used a little tomato paste instead of chopped tomatoes because i thought that would give it color and depth without too much acidity.
boil the ox tongue (about 3 lbs.) about 5 minutes in salted water. immediately plunge into ice cold water and when cool enough to handle peel off the thick white membrane with a sharp paring knife.
marinate the tongue, in 2 tbsps. lemon juice and 1/4 cup soy sauce ( i also used Maggi “Savor” liquid seasoning, Calamansi flavor, about a teaspoon; substitute Knorr or omit, according to your taste) at least 1 hour, up to overnight. brown in olive oil and butter. transfer the tongue to a platter.
in the same pan, saute 5 cloves garlic, 1 (finely chopped) large onion until brown and soft. deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup dry white wine and 1 tbsp. tomato paste. put the tongue back into the pan and stir well until sauce is simmering and blended well. add enough water or broth to cover the tongue by about an inch, and season with salt and pepper. add a couple of bay leaves and some peppercorns. lower heat, simmer for about 2-3 hours or until tongue is fork tender, stirring occasionally.
remove tongue to a platter and let it rest at least 5 minutes before slicing. strain the sauce and set aside.
prepare the mushroom-butter sauce:
melt 1/2 cup butter in a skillet. blend in 1/4 cup all purpose flour, whisking continuously to avoid lumping up. cook until bubbly. let it brown to a golden nutty color, watching it carefully. add 8 ozs. sliced white or brown mushrooms, saute until soft.
pour in about a cup and a half of the reserved strained sauce. add more hot water or broth if it gets too thick. whisk whisk whisk, and season with salt and pepper. some thyme would be nice too.
pour sauce over the sliced tongue and serve.
October 25th, 2006 at 3:49 am
October 25th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Hmmm…I tried preparing lengua with mushroom before pero hula hula lang, di ako nasarapan. I will definitely try your recipe once I get another lengua to prepare…
October 25th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
I have been meaning to try lengua for the longest time. Would you believe I only ate it 1 time so far, and was not too crazy about? actually, we were pretty disgusted by it
kasi ba naman, niluto ni mother ng buo, tapos pagtingin namin sa kaldero, merong pagkalaking dila ang naka titig sa amin!! dumb teenagers pa kami ng mga sisters ko nun 
Haven’t tried it since. Now, I think I’m ready again 
October 25th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
yes Midge you’re right, it is a special occasion dish! it used to be so outlandishly mahal but somehow prices have plummeted…low demand? heehee more for me:steak:piggy
Manang, your in law’s livestock would be so great, organic, grass fed, free roaming right? sarap sigurado!:yes::glasses-slip:
JMom, naku po i understand how you and your sisters felt because i saw my two older kids’ reaction the first time they saw it on my counter…nakabelat daw:drunk::lol::fryingpan i didn’t pass around the platter at serving but my dotir asked me for a huge helping–she loved it!:lei: sige try ulit…i’d also recommend the pressure cooker for the tenderizing part to save on gas/electricity:penguin:
October 27th, 2006 at 6:58 am
:wave::oreo:lol::chattest :melodramatic::glasses-slip::stirthepot:fryingpan:goodvibes:pakone::wave:
October 27th, 2006 at 7:04 am
hayunnnn!!!! pumasok!!! :lol::yoyo::bouncyyipeeeeee!!!:icecream::icecream::icecream::yes: di kaya lalo akong maging daldakina kapag kumain ako nyan, steluv? laging sinasabi ng mga lola ko nung araw, pinakain daw ako ng bleep ng baka kaya super chatterbox daw ako nung batabatuta pa ko hehehe….palagay ko lengua ang gusto nilang sabihin :drive::drive::drive:
:bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus::bus:
October 28th, 2006 at 5:26 pm
Wow – this is one of my top ten paborito and your recipe looks so easy! The restaurant where I’ve been buying it from sells it for about 7 bucks for 1/3 of a pint – hanggang lalamunan ko lang.:melodramatic: Maybe this time, I could finally sit down and gorge in it
Thanks!!!
October 28th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
tita minervi, me nervous soriyaki sukiyaki absent me…cleaning and cooking, big family party tomolo saklolo:faint:
ala eh, totoo-toot-toot yang kasabihang mga pinakain ng kwan ng baka! dami kong kakilala, pero ba’t ako di pinakain babble babelicous pa rin:chat hilig sa lengua siguro ibig sabihin matatas at sharptongued:drunk:
whatcha think Angel? matatas ba tayo?:lol: you know i only spent $7 for the whole tongue! increible, di ba! i really think the mushrooms paired well w/ dila….i enjoyed reading abt your travels Angel, daming adventures niyo ha:drive:
October 30th, 2006 at 2:05 am
Hi Stel,
I have been cooking a lot of the lengua lately. It was my favorite restaurant dish in the Philippines. I am glad that ox tongue is very cheap here in Sydney. I never realized that it was that easy to cook it. I heard about your website from Cecil who went to see Carol in New York recently. I will keep in touch more often now and will go through your recipes in your website.
Rara
October 30th, 2006 at 6:01 am
Rararavoomzee-ey!!!! longlong time na no hear….thanks for visiting! i can’t wait to hear about your time in Sydney, how’s everyone doing?! sige please please keep in touch, am so happy to hear from you again…:chat:lei::goodvibes
November 4th, 2006 at 3:36 am
You know what, Stel, di pa ako nag-try magluto ng lengua. I’m a little afraid kasi not with the look of the tongue but kung paano linisin iyon. Sabagay, kailangan talagang gawin para malaman kung kaya. Try ko rin iyan.
November 4th, 2006 at 3:53 am
:dash-d-knight:lani dear, ako naman natangay ng cravings! i think the hardest part really is to peel away the thick white membrane, then the long wait for it to tenderize. but i do think it’s all worth it for the delicious flavor…pang party talaga. i hope you do try…:stirthepot:grandma:hello to your family…:chef:
November 8th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
hi. i js stumbled across this page. and my my. i am salivating over that tongue. trying out the recipe tmrw for lunch. amazing
November 8th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
hi una, hope you like it. i should mention too that if the liquid has reduced but the tongue is not yet tender just add more broth/water and season to taste if necessary…:stirthepot
December 16th, 2007 at 10:52 am
I’m gonna try your recipe for my mom-in-law\’s 70th b-day, i should impress her and the guests…wish me luck:wizard:
December 16th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
good luck and happy bersdey to your mom-in-law ogz!
if you have a pressure cooker you can use that for boiling the tongue pre-peeling! it’s now my preferred method, makes it so easy and saves a lot on time and cooking gas/energy.