Almost two months after TasteAtlas, an experiential travel guide known for compiling authentic recipes and food critic reviews, released its list of the “50 Best Pork Dishes” worldwide — featuring six Filipino dishes — the platform has now named Sinigang and Bulalo among the “50 Best Soups in the World.”
Sinigang holds two spots on the list: the collective Sinigang is ranked at #17, while Sinigang na Baboy is ranked at #38. Bulalo is placed just one rank higher at #37.
But what if there were a variation of these two celebrated dishes that brought together the best flavors of both into one soup?
Cansi
Panlasang Pinoy, a popular Filipino food blog and recipe website focused on Filipino cuisine, shared that “Cansi is the Ilonggo version of Bulalo and Sinigang combined. It is a type of beef soup with a sour broth. Beef shanks are often used to cook this dish.”
The “Negros Season of Culture,” a cultural platform dedicated to celebrating and promoting the rich heritage, arts, and traditions of Negros Island in the Philippines, wrote in a 2023 article that “All homes have their chosen comfort food and here in Bacolod cansi is ours.”
According to the Negros Season of Culture, cansi’s distinctive flavor is attributed to batwan, its souring ingredient. Batwan, or batuan (pronounced bat-wan), is a fruit from an evergreen tree common to Southeast Asia.
Preparation
Chef JP Anglo, a prominent figure in the culinary world and hailing from Bacolod’s rich culinary scene, showcased his recipe on YouTube, which has amassed 217K views as of August 2024.
To start, prepare beef shank or bulalo cuts, red onions, lemongrass, garlic and Batwan puree. In a hot pan with oil, sear the shanks, then add the onions, garlic and lemongrass to the pan. After sautéing, incorporate a small amount of annatto seeds and some of the tendon. Add water and the shanks, then bring to a boil.
Chef JP then adjusts the sourness by adding Batwan to taste as the dish simmers. He also adds extra tendon to thicken the soup and incorporates the bone marrow either gradually or 30 minutes before serving. He humorously remarked, “Parang nauuwi na ako sa amin (It feels like I’m back home).”
“It’s simple, the meat, the aromatics we put and the souring agent. Cook it slowly and that’s it,” Chef JP shared.
Cebu’s Cansi
This cherished Western Visayas dish, cansi, found a new home in Cebu in 2017 with Cole’s Cansi. In a 2020 SunStar Cebu article, owners Dave and Lowela Maestracampo from Cadiz City explained that they started the business to cope with their homesickness.
“The variety of good local cuisine in Cebu did not stop us from longing for home-cooked Ilonggo comfort food. Our taste buds wanted the familiar and unique taste of cansi from home—that steaming sour soup that just blows you away! We then began to wonder if others (who were in the same situation as we were in) were feeling the same way as we did, wanting to be home. So, we decided to bring cansi to Cebu,” the couple shared in the article.
As Chef JP Anglo mentioned in his YouTube video, the key to their recipe is slow cooking until the beef is incredibly tender. Whether you’re waiting until dinner or enjoying it at any time of the day, this renowned soup, which combines the best elements of Sinigang and Bulalo, is perfect for any occasion — be it a fiesta, birthday or any celebration.