PINAKBET REPUBLIC: kappukan nga addaan silet, raw beef with tripes

Kappukan nga addaan silsilet.

Kappukan (also called ata-ata), raw beef tender loin meat, is usually prepared as is, meat only, uncooked of course, freshly sweet and incredibly delicious, with only salt and onions, and chili.

Or with a blanched pespes (pinespes, also called papait) or fresh bile added and diluted for bitter-loving Ilokano folks, and in some preparation, bits of liblibro and tualtualia (beef tripes, or the black insides of the large intestines that resembles “pages of a book,” and “towel”, hence the name), and raw beef liver.

Or with silet (isaw, the small intestines, technically also tripe), cooked rare or medium rare (blanched or slightly boiled).

The meat and offal for beef kappukan can be obtained right in the slaughter house, to assure you of its freshness, from newly butchered cows. Here, this is the municipal slaughter house of Sanchez Mira, Cagayan:

There’s the liblibro at the bottom, left:

These are pespes ready in cellophane sachets, to be paired with every purchase of meat and offal for pinapaitan, imbaliktad, or kappukan:

And here’s the beef for kappukan—the meat, the liblibro, the tualtualia, and the silet:

Cutting up, mincing up. The silet is slightly boiled to tenderize it a bit and remove its raw smell. The liblibro and tualtualia are to be raw, okey, scald it quickly, but don’t boil it:

Mix the kappukan thoroughly, season with salt and pepper and toss it with sliced red onions and minced chili (optional). Boil the pespes and let it cool first before adding to the mixture. Don’t put in vinegar or even calamansi, as the sourness will “cook” the meat, this is supposed to be kappukan or ata-ata so it should be raw and fresh meat. You can opt to have vinegar with fermented chili if you want to and just dip the kappukan in it.