Kare-Kare

Kare-Kare is considered a Stew, normally an oxtail would be perfect but these days some uses lean meat, pork belly, tripe (i love this), chicken and sometimes seafood. But if you know me I would stick to the original just like paying homage to the dish.

Ingredients:

• 1kg of Oxtail, Chopped into 2" length
• 1/2 Cup of Peanut butter (unsweetened)
• 1 stack of Long Beans, cut into 2" length (Sitaw)
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 tbsp of Achuete/Atsuete
• 1 Large Eggplant, Cut in half and cut into 2" length
• 2 stack of Pechay or Bokchoy
• 2 tbsp of Shrimp paste
• 4-5 tbsp of Peanut, crushed finely (secret ingredient, makes a huge difference)

 Procedure

• Oxtail Procedure
• In a large pot or pressure cooker boil the oxtail until tender, pressure cooker will only take about 45mins to an hour a normal boiling may take 1hr 30mins to 2hrs depends on the meat.
• Once meat is tender remove the meat from the broth but set aside the broth please.
• Achuete/Atsuete Procedure
• In a pan put about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and start stir frying the atchuete until the oil turns reddish, mostly takes about 5mins
• strain the achuete and set aside the oil
• Now time to get a "wok" if you don't have one you can use a regular deep pan.
• Add half of the achuete oil and saute garlic and onions, let them caramelize
• Add the shrimp paste, saute for another 2mins
• Add the meat, saute for another 2mins
• Gently add the stock, we start at 2cups, we will gradually add the remaining stock if the dish gets dried out
• Add the peanut butter, make sure you stir it properly so we avoid clumps
• Add the beans cook for 5mins
• Add eggplant cook for another 5mins
• Add the Bokchoy cook for another 2mins
• Lastly add the crushed peanuts and again please stir the dish properly
• Let it simmer for about 2mins
• Consistency check.... If the sauce is too thick we need to add a bit of our stock.

*NOTE: Best eaten with shrimp paste as a side, chillis optional.

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