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Cook Kare-Kare

Edited by mahalia jovita b. bugasto, Eng, Cave Man, Rebecca M. and 3 others

5 Parts: Things you'll need: Ingredients: Steps for Cooking Notes Comments

Kare-kare is one of the Philippines' most famous dishes. It is a stew which usually consists of ox tail and pork or beef hocks, along with vegetables. The most commonly used vegetables in this recipe are eggplant, long beans, Chinese cabbage and the heart of banana. It is flavored with ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter, either chunky or smooth, and other spices. Annatto seed or powder plays an important role in this dish. It gives the dish its vibrant color.

This dish is usually served during special occasions such as birthdays, christenings, weddings and fiestas. When you see kare-kare served, it probably means that something is being celebrated, and it is something to look forward too. Kare-kare originated in the Philippines, but it is not limited to the area. People from all over the world can taste and have their mouths water with this savory dish that Filipinos had discovered.

This dish is best paired with shrimp paste. Ordinary shrimp paste will do, but it is too salty so you will want to balance its flavor by sauteing it and adding more flavors to the shrimp paste (sweet and spicy). Just keep in mind that cooking a shrimp paste doesn't really smell that good, but it will taste a lot better.

Contents

1 Things you'll need:
2 Ingredients:
3 Steps for Cooking
4 Notes
5 Comments

Things you'll need:

1
Large and medium pots

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2
Large wok

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3
Strainer
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4
Tongs

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5
Long ladle
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Ingredients:

1
1 kilogram of pork or beef hocks, or ox tail, cut into 2 inch sections

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2
6 tablespoons peanut butter, either chunky or smooth
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3
1 bundle sitaw or long beans, cut into 3 inch sections
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4
6 large Chinese cabbage leaves, cut horizontally through the middle

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5
1 medium eggplant
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6
1 medium banana heart

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7
1 teaspoon of orange food coloring, or you can use achuete (annatto) powder for the color
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8
A drizzle of cooking oil for sauté purposes

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9
6 to 7 garlic cloves, minced
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10
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
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11
2 tablespoons fish sauce
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12
Bagoong or shrimp paste
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Steps for Cooking

1
Boil the pork hocks (or whichever meat you are using) until soft
.
Once the meat is tender and soft, set aside the meat, but reserve the broth.

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Heat a good amount of oil in a wok and saute the onion first, and then follow with the minced garlic.

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When onions begin to caramelize, add the pork hocks and the fish sauce

Saute it for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

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Add about 2 to 3 cups of pork broth, salt, atchuete powder and peanut butter

Simmer for 5 minutes.

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Use a medium pot for separately boiling the vegetables

This is done to prevent the vegetables from being overcooked.

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Start boiling the long beans first, and when they're done, get all the long beans out of the water using the food tongs

Do the same for all the vegetables after the long beans - it will be the Chinese cabbage's turn next, then the eggplant, and last will be the heart of banana.

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Once the stew is ready, add the vegetables and serve with shrimp paste.

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Notes

If you want a thicker sauce, you can add toasted ground rice, along with step number 4. (You will need 1/3 cup of rice, toasted in a dry saucepan on low heat. Keep stirring until just golden brown. Let it cool. Once cooled, grind it using a mortar and pestle, until powder-like.)
Instead of choosing ground peanuts or peanut butter (or otherwise), why not just use both? It will taste better, and after all, this is an oxtail with peanut butter stew, so don't hold back.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.