What Is Bone marrow and How Can I Use It?
Wondering what to do with bone marrow? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 7 recipes to put it to work.
What is bone marrow?
Beef marrow bones are the long bones of the animal, usually the leg bone. They contain a soft, flavorful fat substance called marrow.
Marrow is used to make balls for soup, to add flavor to many dishes, to garnish meat, and to cook and eat for itself. Because it is delicate and rich it needs no adornment with sauces.
To extract the marrow, ask your butcher to cut the bone into 1 ½ inch lengths. Allow 3 to 5 - 1 ½ inch lengths per serving when the marrow is eaten for its own sake. As a garnish one piece per person should be ample.
- In Chinese:
- 骨髓
- British (UK) term:
- Bone marrow
- en français:
- moelle osseuse
- en español:
- médula ósea
Recipes using bone marrow
There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Onion Sauce
Bone marrow onion sauce with dry sherry and beef broth, pureed until silky smooth. A rich, old-school European sauce for roast beef, made in the microwave.
Duck Miramonte
An elegant sophisticated Masterchef dinner. Duck with wine sauce, bone marrow and sautéed spinach.
Hanoi Beef & Rice-Noodel Soup (Pho Bac)
Authentic Hanoi-style beef pho with charred aromatics, star anise, cinnamon, and a 6-hour broth. Crystal-clear, deeply savory, topped with paper-thin raw beef cooked by the hot soup.
Bordelaise Sauce for Game
A classic French bordelaise sauce built from scratch in three stages: matignon, espagnole, and a red wine reduction finished with poached bone marrow. The ultimate companion for game, beef steaks, and roasts.
Meldrum Potted Hough
Traditional Scottish potted hough made from slow-simmered beef shin and marrow bones with allspice and bay leaves, set in its own natural jelly.
Shchi
Shchi is a traditional Russian cabbage and sauerkraut soup with beef brisket, marrow bones, porcini mushrooms, and root vegetables. A deeply layered pot that tastes even better the next day.
Bordelaise Sauce - Master Chefs
Bordelaise sauce is the classic French red wine reduction with shallots, bouquet garni, bone marrow, and veal stock. The mother sauce companion to a perfect steak. Restaurant-grade in 30 minutes.
