I consider Kare-kare as my Obra Maestra - a fusion of flavors, mouth-watering, explosive. Seldom have I met a Filipino who doesn't eat Kare-kare (Luis, my previous manager at Intel). After a few years of practice, I have learned to master this dish and am proud to say that this version of mine will leave you falling for more...and more. Enjoy!
Kare-kare is a Philippine stew made from peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables, tender oxtail, beef cheeks, and occasionally tripe or honeycomb. It is often eaten with bagoong (shrimp paste), sometimes spiced with chili, and sprinkled with calamansi juice. Traditionally, any Filipino fiesta is not complete without kare-kare. In some Filipino-American versions of the dish, oxtail is exclusively used as the meat.
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs Beef cheeks or oxtail, simmer in water w/ a dash of salt and crumpled laurel leaves, sliced into 1 inch cube
- 3 tbsps Cooking oil
- 3 tbsps minced garlic
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 3 tbsps garlic powder
- 3 tbsps Barrio Fiesta shrimp paste
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2 cubes, beef bouillon
- 5 heads of small Korean bokchoy, hard bottom removed
- 1 lb string bean, cut into 1 1/2 in length
- 3 large eggplant, sliced diagonally in 1/2 in thickness
- 2 Mama Sita kare-kare mix
- 1 pouch achiote
- 1 cup peanut butter, creamy style
Procedure:
1) Simmer beef cheeks or oxtail with enough water to cover it, 3 laurel leaves, and a dash of salt, until tender. Slice into bite size. Reserve the liquid.
2) In a pot, heat oil and saute garlic and onion until onion is translucent. Do not burn the garlic.
3) Add meat, shrimp paste, garlic powder. Stir to make sure that shrimp paste mixes well with the meat.
4) Mix together the following - beef broth (or water), beef bouillon, kare-kare mix and peanut butter. Add to pot. Let simmer.
5) Dilute achiote in 1/2 cup of water and add to the mixture. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
6) Boil the veggies in the reserved liquid. Add to the beef mixture when ready to serve.
Enjoy!
