Kare-Kare (ka-reh ka-reh, to all of you unfamiliar to it) is something I was brought up on. It's a dish that comforts me, and I often judge whether I'll go back to a restaurant on how well they make this.
When my mom was pregnant with me, she apparently had a fixation on orange foods. Royal Tru Orange,
Kare-Kare and the like. It explains why orange soda is usually my preferred order (though I'll very rarely even touch soda) and why
Kare-Kare does things for me that no other stew could.
(I hold no scientific claim on this, though).
Weekend events brought me to the decision to re-learn and document how my mom and I cook
Kare-Kare. I think it was one of the first things she really taught me in the kitchen. It's traditionally made with ground peanuts, but has grown to be modernised and simplified with the use of peanut butter. It makes use of oxtails and tripe, then buffed up with chunks of beef and an array of veggies.
I needed something familiar this day. Something warm and close to my heart (stomach) to ease a bit of unease. "It's my favourite." would be an understatement.
Again, we cooked with a lot of flexibility - looking, tasting and adjusting as we went, so while I'll be able to give you a base of measurements, it won't really lead you to my final dish (which was heaven, by the way).
But it's better that way, trust me. Make this your own. Make it however sweet or salty, fatty or healthy, robust or tame as you need it to be. Listen to what your heart (stomach) needs. I did.
For those that eat meat, start by cooking the oxtail, beef and tripe in either a stock pot of boiling water with a bay leaf, a quartered onion and some peppercorns for an hour or so til softened
or by using a pressure cooker.
Be sure to save the water you used in this, as it'll be added into the stew later on.
This is atsuete powder. Normally, we use atsuete seeds, but didn't have them on hand and this was all we found instead. The atsuete is what lends this stew it's orange-y hue, as well as adding a wee bit of a nutty / sweet / peppery taste.
The smaller black pot to the left was for my vegetarian version, while my mom cooked for everyone else in the bigger silver one to the right. That should help you take note of which is which in the photos.
With atsuete
seeds, you'd cook them in oil to release the colour and flavour first. But in this case, add the oil and atsuete
water? into a pot, and once that's hot, sauté the onions and garlic til golden brown and soft.
Then, add the stock that you cooked your meat in. If you were using toasted rice to thicken the sauce, which we omitted due to some time pressures, add them in at this point too.
Grab your favourite peanut butter, no need to go artisan or fancy here. It's all about Pinoy quirks.
Add a few spoonfuls of that in and mix well to incorporate.
I used vegetable stock (the same one I used in my
I-Love-My-Parents Risotto last week) for my version. I also added a bit too much atsuete, check out that hilariously daunting orange below.
I enjoy a sweet and creamy
Kare-Kare, so was very liberal with my peanut butter scoops.
Then add in your meats, mixing everything around to coat them well. Bring the stew to a boil, then let simmer for about 15 minutes. I skipped these ingredients, obviously.
Be sure to keep tasting as you go along! Season with salt and pepper. Remember that you can always add more stock, more peanut butter or reduce the stew along the way to get to the consistency and flavour you want.
Next, add in the vegetables: your puso ng saging (banana buds), eggplant, string beans, bok choy. Stir everything to coat, and let the vegetables cook in the hearty warmth.
Taste and season and adjust! Don't use eggplant chunks as big as this... Ours were a bit undercooked in the end, heh.
I added a lot more peanut butter throughout cooking, as well as some stock to thin the sauce out slightly. It made everything perfect.
And really... That's it! Of course, there was a lot more tasting, seasoning, adjusting etc. going on but I wasn't going to bombard you with photos of each of those... I'm already a bit worried there are too many photos as is! But indulge me and my love of this dish for now, will ya? Thanks guys, you're the best.
We served these on hot plates in the pots themselves. Alongside was the
Vegetarian Pinoy Lumpia we made. We cooked these all at the same time, by the way! I'm proud to say my kitchen multi-tasking has improved!
Mom brought some relleno as well, and my older brother brought grilled fish.
I could, of course, only eat the things that I had prepared. And was perfectly happy with that! Serve the
Kare-Kare with rice and a heaping dollop of...
Bagoong! I've decided that's something I wouldn't give up. I can't eat
Kare-Kare without it! Our favourite is the kind that
Barrio Fiesta sells :)
I really hope you guys try this recipe! It's warm and comforting and cozy. Sweet then countered with that bite from the bagoong. The recipe is actually quite simple, so don't let my barrage of photos and adjustments deter you, please. It really does not get any better that some home-cooked peanut butter stew, if you will. I could write about how much I love
Kare-Kare for hours, and how well it served as a part of my day.
I wish I could tell you all everything that I feel about this dish, and about that day... But I'll leave you to try making this dish or another that means something to you, and hopefully really feel how wonderful it can be.
Food truly nourishes.
Mother-Daughter Kare-Kare
1/2 kilogram beef (round or sirloin cut), cut into cubes
a bunch of tripe
1/2 kilogram oxtail, cut into 2 inch portions
1 cup peanut butter, add to taste
(note that we finished the two jars photographed above between both our stews)
1/4 cup ground, toasted rice
2 onions, one diced / sliced and one quartered
1 bay leaf
peppercorns
2 heads garlic, minced
(we used a lot more onion and garlic than stated, yum)
4 tablespoons atsuete oil
4 pieces eggplant, sliced into 1 inch portions
(we needed vegetables than stated because of my version)
1 bundle bok choy (
pechay),
1 bundle string beans (
sitaw), sliced to 2 inches long
1 banana bud (
puso ng saging), sliced into 1-2 inch portions
1/2 cup oil
8 cups stock
(we just estimated and adjusted as necessary)
salt and pepper, to taste
bagoong
In a stock pot, boil beef, tripe and oxtails in water with a bay leaf, a quartered onion and some peppercorns for an hour or until cooked and softened.
Strain, and keep the stock.
In a big pot or wok, heat oil and atsuete oil.
Sauté garlic and onions until golden brown and soft.
Add the stock, toasted rice and peanut butter. Mix well.
Add the beef, tripe and oxtail.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Adjust as needed, +/- stock, peanut butter, seasoning etc.
Add the eggplant, string beans, bok choy and banana buds.
Cook the vegetables for a few minutes - be sure not to overcook them.
Serve everything with rice and bagoong.
*Omit the obviously meaty steps for a vegetarian version, and simply use vegetable stock in the recipe. Omit serving with bagoong as well if you're that hard core. Which I am not.
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