Kare-kare is a Filipino stew made usually with pork or beef with a peanut based thick sauce. As it is quite plain when it comes to flavour despite its thick sauce, it is often partered with guisadong bago-ong (sauteed shrimp paste) to get the full goodness of this favorite Filipino recipe.
Here's a simple recipe for Kare-kare.
Ingredients
- Pork Pata (hocks), cut into smaller pieces)
- 3 tbsp. oil
- 2 tbsp. achuete seeds
- Garlic, minced
- Onion, sliced
- 1/3 cup ground peanuts and/or 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup ground toasted rice (optional)
- Salt
- Peppercorn
- Pechay
- Eggplants, sliced
- Sitaw (string beans), cut into 3 inches lengths
- Puso ng saging (banana heart), sliced (and soaked in water)
- Guisadong Bagoong Alamang
- Boil pata (in water, salt and peppercorn) until tender. Drain pata and set aside. Reserve broth.
- Make achuete oil by adding achuete seeds in heated oil and stirring until the color comes out. Separate the oil and discard the seeds.
- In a pot, sauté garlic and onions.
- Stir in stock and bring to a boil. Just place enough broth stock proportional to the peanuts and rice flour.
- Add bagoong, ground peanuts/peanut butter and ground rice. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Stir until your desired thickness.
- Add pata pieces and simmer for a few minutes to let the sauce seep in. Adjust sauce consistency with broth and/or peanut butter - mix these first in a separate bowl before adding it to the main pot.
- Add the vegetables (puso ng saging, sitaw and eggplants) and cook vegetables until tender.
- Finally add the pechay and cook for a minute or two.
- Remove from heat and place in a serving dish. Garnish with peanuts if desired
- Serve with bagoong guisado on the side.