@tendon.cental · Hong Kong style · Manila

Tendon takes hours. That's the whole point.

Collagen only surrenders to long, gentle heat — so every batch braises for hours until it turns silk-soft and glossy. Almost pure protein, almost no fat, and a texture no shortcut can fake. Delivered same-day.

Order Now The collagen explainer ↓
All four tendon flavors in one spread — HK style over noodles, kaldereta, curry in a cast-iron pot, and kare-kare, with steamed rice Properly braised tendon is translucent at the edges and wobbles like set custard — that's collagen turned to gelatin.

Today's batch

Choose your bowls.

Slow-braised in our kitchen, frozen ready-to-eat — just heat and serve. Stock counts are live, batch-cooked and sold until gone. Same-day delivery or free pickup.

Delivered same-day via Lalamove/Grab — fee quoted after ordering, no markup — or pick up for free. Your order is confirmed once payment is verified.

Field guide · The cut

What is beef tendon, actually?

Tendon is the dense connective tissue that anchors muscle to bone — a rope of nearly pure collagen. Raw, it's tough as leather. Cooked properly, it becomes one of the most prized textures in Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Filipino cooking.

A cut with a passport. Braised tendon over rice in Hong Kong cafés, gyū-suji stew in Japan, the silky prize in a bowl of phở, and the depth in a proper pares — tendon has been feeding working cities for generations. It was never a byproduct; it was the point.

Why texture is everything. Tendon's collagen is wound into tight triple-helix fibers. Undercooked, they stay rubbery. Given hours of low, moist heat, they unwind and absorb the braise — turning glossy, wobbly, and tender enough to cut with chopsticks.

Lean by nature. Per 100g, beef tendon carries roughly 37g of protein with under 1g of fat — about 150 calories. It's one of the leanest ways beef gets eaten anywhere.

~37gprotein per 100g
<1gfat per 100g
~150kcal per 100g

What's in 100g, compared*

Beef tendon — protein~37g
Ribeye steak — protein~24g
Beef tendon — fat~0.5g
Ribeye steak — fat~19g

*Typical published values per 100g cooked; exact numbers vary by cut and cook. Tendon protein is mostly collagen — see below for what that means.

Field guide · Collagen

Collagen, explained like an adult.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body — the scaffolding of skin, joints, and connective tissue. Tendon is one of the most collagen-dense foods there is. Here's what that does and doesn't mean.

Collagen — tight triple helix (tough) hours of gentle heat Gelatin — unwound strands (silky, digestible)
The entire craft in one picture: time + moisture + low heat converts collagen to gelatin. There is no fast version of this.

The amino acid signature. Collagen is unusually rich in glycine and proline — amino acids that are the raw material your body uses when it builds its own connective tissue. Gelatin (cooked collagen) carries the same signature, which is why slow-braised tendon and long-simmered bone broth sit in the same family.

The honest caveat. Collagen is not a complete protein — it's low in some essential amino acids. Eating tendon doesn't paste collagen onto your joints; your body breaks it down like any protein. What you get: a very lean, high-protein food naturally rich in glycine and proline, best eaten as part of a varied diet.

Why people pair it with vitamin C. Your body's own collagen synthesis uses vitamin C as a cofactor — a squeeze of calamansi over a tendon bowl is tradition and biochemistry agreeing with each other.

How we make it · Slow-cooking science

Hours, on purpose.

Collagen begins converting to gelatin at low simmering temperatures — but conversion is slow, and rushing with a hard boil just seizes the meat. The schedule below is why premium tendon costs what it costs.

Hour 0

Clean & blanch

Tendons are trimmed and blanched to pull impurities, so the braise stays clean and clear.

Hour 1

Build the braise

Aromatics, soy, spices — the liquor the tendon will drink for the rest of the day.

Hours 2–6+

The long hold

Held at a bare simmer while the triple helix slowly unwinds into gelatin. Poke-tender, never mushy.

Service

Rest & glaze

Resting in the braise deepens flavor; a final glaze gives the gloss. Then it's packed and out the door.

Field guide · Training tables

Why athletes keep ordering tendon.

From boxers to lifters, collagen-rich cuts have a quiet following in training kitchens. The reasons are practical, not magical.

The pattern

Recovery meals lean on protein.

Why tendon fits

A bowl delivers serious protein with very little fat — easy on digestion after training, heavy on the amino acids that repair demands.

The pattern

Joint-heavy sports look at collagen.

Why tendon fits

Research on collagen and joint comfort is ongoing and modest — but collagen-rich whole foods supply glycine and proline as part of a normal diet, with no pills involved.

The pattern

Bone broth became a locker-room staple.

Why tendon fits

Broth is gelatin in liquid form. Tendon is the concentrated version — same slow-extracted collagen, but it's dinner, not a sip.

The pattern

Traditional cuisines got there first.

Why tendon fits

Cultures that cook nose-to-tail have eaten collagen-rich cuts before and after hard labor for centuries. Sports science is catching up to grandmother's stockpot.

Serving suggestions

Already cooked. Here's how it becomes dinner.

Everything we sell is slow-braised in our kitchen, then frozen ready-to-eat — no cooking on your end, just heat, assemble, and serve.

How to heat · Quick & easy

Boil the bag

  1. Thaw the Tendon completely.
  2. Dunk the boil bag directly into a pot of boiling water.
  3. Boil for 12 minutes.
  4. Take the bag out, cut open, and serve.

Straight from frozen? Boil approx. 20 minutes instead.

How to heat · Old school

In a pot or pan

  1. Thaw the Tendon completely and take it out of the boil bag.
  2. Place in a proportionate-sized pot or pan.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons of water.
  4. Boil until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.

From frozen: reheat immediately works, but add more water to avoid burning.

Careful when opening — the contents will be oozing hot.

HK Style tendon rice bowl

The cha chaan teng standard — HK Style tendon over hot rice, sauce spooned over.

Rice bowlHow to serve +Close −

You'll need

  • 1 HK Style Tendon Solo Pack
  • 1 cup hot cooked rice
  • 1 Extra Sauce HK Style (optional, for extra sauce over the rice)
  • Chopped spring onion (optional)

Serve it

  1. Heat the tendon — boil-bag 12 minutes thawed (~20 from frozen), see "How to heat" above.
  2. Pour tendon and all its sauce over the rice.
  3. Top with spring onion. Extra sauce on the side if you like it swimming.

Serves 1

Tendon ramen upgrade

Our tendon, our noodles, your broth — the gelatin turns any bowl into body.

NoodlesHow to serve +Close −

You'll need

  • 1 HK Style Tendon Solo Pack
  • 1 pack Noodles
  • 400ml hot beef broth
  • 1 Extra Sauce HK Style
  • Soft-boiled egg and spring onion (optional)

Serve it

  1. Cook the noodles in the broth per pack timing.
  2. Heat the tendon (boil-bag 12 minutes thawed — see "How to heat" above); add to the bowl with all its sauce.
  3. Stir the Extra Sauce into the broth. Top with egg and spring onion.

Serves 1

Kare-kare tendon plate

Silky litid in peanut sauce with rice, blanched vegetables, and bagoong on the side.

FilipinoHow to serve +Close −

You'll need

  • 1 Kare-kare Flavor Tendon Solo Pack
  • 1 cup hot cooked rice
  • 5–6 pieces sitaw, 1 small eggplant (sliced), handful of pechay
  • 1 tbsp bagoong

Serve it

  1. Blanch the vegetables in boiling water 2 minutes; drain.
  2. Heat the tendon — boil-bag 12 minutes thawed (~20 from frozen), see "How to heat" above.
  3. Plate rice, tendon with sauce, and vegetables. Bagoong on the side.

Serves 1

Curry tendon don

Sweet HK curry over rice — the Solo Pack does all the work.

Rice bowlHow to serve +Close −

You'll need

  • 1 Curry Flavor Tendon Solo Pack
  • 1 cup hot cooked rice
  • 1 Extra Sauce Curry (for a properly sauced don)
  • A few cucumber slices (optional, for crunch)

Serve it

  1. Heat the tendon — boil-bag 12 minutes thawed (~20 from frozen), see "How to heat" above.
  2. Pour over the rice, add the Extra Sauce.
  3. Cucumber on the side. Done in under 10 minutes.

Serves 1

Home yum cha platter

Tendon as the main, our dimsum all around — a weekend spread with zero cooking.

SharingHow to serve +Close −

You'll need

  • 1 Tendon Sharing pack (any flavor)
  • Siomai, Hakaw, and Beancurd Roll — pick any 2–3
  • Dip: 2 tbsp soy sauce + juice of 1 calamansi + chili oil
  • Hot tea, if you're doing it properly

Serve it

  1. Steam the dimsum straight from frozen, 8–10 minutes until piping hot.
  2. Heat the tendon sharing pack — boil-bag method, ~20 minutes if straight from frozen.
  3. Everything to the middle of the table, dip within reach.

Feeds 3–4

Kalderetang litid & pandesal

Rich kaldereta tendon with warm pandesal for sopping up the sauce.

FilipinoHow to serve +Close −

You'll need

  • 1 Kaldereta Flavor Tendon Solo Pack
  • 4 pandesal, warmed
  • 1 Extra Sauce Kaldereta (optional, more for dipping)
  • Grated cheese on top (optional)

Serve it

  1. Heat the tendon — boil-bag 12 minutes thawed (~20 from frozen), see "How to heat" above.
  2. Warm the pandesal in a toaster or dry pan, 2 minutes.
  3. Serve the tendon in a bowl, pandesal alongside — tear, dip, repeat.

Serves 1–2 · also works over rice

Before you ask

Fair questions, straight answers.

What is Tendon Central?
Tendon Central is a Manila-based small-batch food brand by Cravely: Hong Kong–style slow-braised beef tendon in four flavors — HK style, Curry, Kaldereta, and Kare-kare — plus frozen dim sum like siomai, hakaw, and shrimp wanton. Everything comes frozen, vacuum-packed, and ready to reheat, with same-day delivery across Metro Manila.
How much does it cost?
Solo tendon packs (200g tendon plus sauce, good for 1) are ₱290–₱380 depending on flavor. Sharing packs (500g tendon plus sauce, good for 3–4) are ₱700–₱950. The Tendon Sampler with all four flavors is ₱1,250, and the Sunday Family Feast Bundle is ₱3,000. Frozen dim sum runs ₱310–₱510 per pack.
Where are you located, and where do you deliver?
We cook in a small kitchen in Manila and deliver same-day across Metro Manila via Lalamove/Grab — or pick up for free. Orders and payment confirmation happen over Viber (0917 833 7827).
How fast is delivery?
Same-day via Lalamove/Grab from our kitchen. We quote you the courier's exact fee after you order — no markup — or pick up for free.
How do I pay?
GCash, bank transfer, or PayPal — details appear right after you place the order. Send your payment through our Viber number (0917 833 7827); a human verifies every payment before we prep, and refunds (if ever needed) go back the same way.
How should I reheat it?
Easiest: thaw, then put the boil bag straight into a pot of boiling water for about 12 minutes (roughly 20 if still frozen), cut open and serve. Old school: empty the thawed pack into a pan, add 2 tablespoons of water, and boil until the sauce is the consistency you like. Microwave at medium heat also works. Careful opening the bag — the contents will be oozing hot.
How long does it keep?
Refrigerated, 3–4 days; the flavor actually settles in nicely on day two. It also freezes well for up to three months — thaw in the fridge, reheat gently.
Is tendon fatty? It looks rich.
That richness is gelatin, not fat. Per 100g tendon carries under 1g of fat — the silky mouthfeel comes from collagen converted by slow cooking, which is also why it sets like jelly in the fridge.
Why does it cost more than regular beef stew?
Hours of fuel and attention per batch, small quantities, and no shortcuts. Tendon rushed is tendon ruined — you're paying for time, and you can taste exactly where it went.

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