Beef Kare-kare

Beef Kare-kare

Beef Kare Kare or Beef Peanut Stew, is a Filipino comfort food. History said it was originated from Pampanga, a province in North part of Philippines which is also known as Culinary Capital of the Philippines. Interestingly, it is also part of the regal dish of the Moro elite who once settled in Manila before the Spanish arrival and it remains a popular dish in Southern part of the Philippines (source: Kare-kare)

Enough of history, what I know Kare-kare, is very popular dish in the Philippines everywhere you go they have their own versions of it. It is a special menu in most of the restaurants and carinderias (small eatery house). I would say besides Adobo and lechon this is also an all-time Filipinos favorite. During my younger years and when we are still in the Philippines, whenever there are occasions like birthdays, weddings, fiestas or even noche buenas (Christmas eve dinner) Kare-kare is always present on the menu and surely this is the first menu that will gone very fast. 
 
The popular kare-kare is using the oxtail, however, other types of meat also can be use such as; pork, chicken, lamb, goat, beef, and even fish and sea foods like shrimp, squid and etc. If you are a vegan, you can have vegetable kare-kare only, so you will not miss this distinctly and well-popular Philippines dish. What interesting on this dish is the thick peanut sauce, made from ground peanut or peanut butter. The basic vegetables that go with this dish include banana heart (puso ng saging), eggplant or brinjal, string beans and peck chye or bok choi (Chinese cabbage). It is often served with special bagoong alamang (sauted salted shrimp paste)

This recipe is my own version of cooking this dish and my family love it. If you search in the internet there are various ways of how this is being cooked. Hope you will try and like my version. 

Beef Kare-kare recipe

Ingredients:

·       ½ to 1 kilo beef  or meat of your choice, cut in cube 1 ½ inch

·       4 cloves garlic, crushed

·       1 meduim size onions, quartered

·       2 pcs Knorr beef cubes

·       1 meduim size onions, diced

·       4 cloves garlic, minced

·       6-7 pcs long beans cut in about 2inches long

·       2 pcs brinjal (eggplant), slice about ½ inch thickness

·       1 pcs banana heart, cut in quarters (if not available can be omitted)

·       4 pcs Peck chye or bok choi

·       ¾ to 1 cup peanut butter (or ground peanuts)

·       3 to 4 cups of water or more

·       ¼ tsp Ground pepper

·       2 Tbsp oil

·       1 Tbsp Glutinous rice or corn starch (dissolve in 2 tbsp water)

·       2 tsp Anatto powder (optional)

·       Bagoong Alamang Guisado (sauted salted shrimp paste) store bought or homemade

Instructions:

1.   Put beef, crushed garlic, quartered onions, knorr cubes and water in large pot or casserole. Bring it to a boil then simmer in low heat till the beef become tender and soft about 1 to 2 hours, check once in a while and add water if needed. Alternatively, to speed up the cooking you can use pressure cooker to soften the beef. Set the pressure cooker according to manufacturer’s setting.

 2.  Once the beef soften, remove from the pot and set aside

 3.   Boil the vegetables on the beef broth one by one till cooked, you can add more water if the left broth is not enough to boil the vegetables, then remove the vegetables and set aside.

4.   On a separate wok or sauce pan, heat the oil and saute the minced garlic and diced onions till fragrant.

5.   Then, pour the beef broth, put the peanut butter and dissolved glutinous rice, mixed till the sauce thickens. You can add peanuts butter as well for more nutty taste

6.   Turn off the heat.

7.  Arrange the beef and the vegetable on serving dish then pour the peanut sauce over then give a mix.

8.     Served with bagoong alamang or sauted  salted shrimp paste