This is tuslob buwa, a Cebuano dish made up of some interesting pig parts…
Filipinos are infamous for using different animal parts and turning them into delicious delicacies. An entire pig’s face is sliced into small cubes to create sisig, while its mesentery makes up the popular local pork rind called ginabot.
In Cebu, cooking a pig’s brain has become a popular part of the street food culture and scene. It’s considered a homegrown delicacy that perfectly represents Filipino ingenuity and resourcefulness.
The way tuslob buwa is cooked makes it shareable with a group. The dish consists of cut-up parts of a pig’s brain and is mixed with different ingredients to create a gravy-like substance.
Tuslob buwa is eaten by dipping the puso, or commonly known as hanging rice, into the mixture. It may not sound appetizing, but an article published in Business Insider confirms that it has a strong umami flavor, reminiscent of pork pate. (2023)
It has surged in popularity in recent years, now commonly sold at a dozen food stalls and parks around the island, while restaurants like Azul and Big Brain bring in more modern iterations of the dish.
At its core, it is a street food staple best experienced at streetside food stalls along the corners and alleyways of the barangay it originated from. After all, it’s where the original recipe was perfected and later replicated in the local street food scene.
HISTORY OF TUSLOB BUWA
Most Cebuanos know that tuslob buwa was invented in the downtown neighborhoods of Pasil and Suba, which are popular for their many food stalls selling exotic food.
Vendors typically cook this dish from the comfort of their own homes, inviting neighbors and passersby to gather around for a meal.
The name translates to “dip in bubbles”, owing to how customers dip their puso while the gravy mixture is boiling. According to a study published on ResearchGate by Romeo Toring, tuslob buwa can be traced all the way back to the 1950s. (2021)
During this time, Cebuanos were known for making “sinudlan”, a popular dish consisting of ground pork stuffed inside the large intestines of a pig or cow.
It forms into a sausage-like structure which is then deep fried in hot oil. This produces an alluring aroma and tiny brown bubbles. Vendors would let customers buy puso so that they could dip it into the mixture while the sausage was cooking.
This became a popular practice attributed to a woman known as Tonang, whose sinudlan was always enjoyed by children dipping rice into the oil while it was being cooked.
It is believed to be the earliest form of tuslob buwa in Cebu, with later versions coming about in the 1960s with ginhawaan. This is a Cebuano term that collectively refers to the internal organs of various types of poultry.
The innards and entrails were parboiled to make them tender and thoroughly clean. The meat was partly cooked, then grilled or deep fried later on.
The innards are cooked with starch, creating a sizzling mixture with strong flavors.
Unfortunately, the entrails produced a rather unpleasant smell, so cooks had to innovate the way the dish was cooked. In the same decade, the kinupasan tradition was introduced where cooks would evaporate the juices of humba to use for the sauce.
Humba is a braised pork dish very similar to adobo, but with several key ingredients including brown sugar and salted black beans. It produces a sweet and savory sauce that perfectly complements the rice.
Finally, in the 70s, they came up with the version we all know today. The cow or pig brains are the main ingredient that produces the umami sauce. Pork brain eventually became the standard as this was much easier to manage and tasted better.
The study by Romeo Toring attributed Marina Colarte or “Ninang” as the mother of tuslob buwa and the founder of the utok style of the dish. She took inspiration from the dish’s version at Duljo at the time, which used ginabot residue.
To create a more unique dish, she swapped the ginabot for pig brains, which are often just thrown away. With less competition, Ninang’s business thrived, and it became the main livelihood for her and her family.
Her tuslob buwa recipe lives on 50 years later, with her daughter and granddaughter managing a food stall across from the Pasil Barangay Hall.
HOW IT’S MADE
Before cooking the pig brains, they are thoroughly cleaned by removing the blood and bone fragments. These are then minced into small cubes, which serve as the meat for the gravy-like mixture.
A broth made up of garlic, onions, salt, and seasoning is cooked in a massive wok, where the minced brain is mixed in to complete the dish. This is continuously cooked until it achieves a sticky texture.
Once it bubbles, customers can start dipping their puso into the gravy. Vendors would continuously refill the mixture once the bubbles run out.
In Pasil, one wok can be shared by dozens of people, regardless of whether they know each other or not. This communal practice showcases the social culture of street food in the Philippines.
MODERNIZED VERSIONS
The first known versions of the dish were only served within Pasil and its neighboring barangays, but several restaurants have come forth, introducing the pig brain variant of the dish to the masses.
One of the first to do so was Azul, a convenience store turned restaurant that many consider has the best tuslob buwa in Cebu. This was the first establishment to implement selling the dish in sets, in which other eateries have followed suit.
This process lets customers cook the dish themselves, using butane stoves that provide convenience and mobility. This also lets groups of friends share the dish among themselves and not with complete strangers.
Since then, the dish has become more commercialized, with more restaurants jumping on the bandwagon. Big Brain in Kasambagan also offers other street food dishes like barbecue, hotdogs, and ginabot to pair with the dish.
It’s now pretty common to see tuslob buwa stalls at food parks like Sugbo Mercado, the Colon Night Market, and The Barracks, where you may find dozens of stall owners lifting butane stoves to tables left and right.
Its popularity has garnered international acclaim, with vloggers and food content creators flying to Cebu to try the dish for themselves. It was also featured on the Netflix documentary show Street Food Asia.
It may come as a surprise to some that this dish has a massive following, but despite its peculiar ingredients, it remains a pillar in Cebuano food culture.
REFERENCES:
Descalsota, Marielle. 2023. “I ate a famed Filipino dish made with pig brain and spine for just 25 cents, and it was the perfect savory snack.” Business Insider.
https://www.businessinsider.com/filipino-food-philippines-cuisine-tuslob-buwa-pig-brain-spin-offcuts-2023-8.
Toring, Romeo Jr. 2021. “Tuslob Buwâ: From Poor Man’s Meal to ‘Cebuano’ Exotic Hotpot Dish.”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359230019_Tuslob_Buwa_From_Poor_Man’s_Meal_to_’Cebuano’_Exotic_Hotpot_Dish/citation/download.
