Kare-Kare or Peanut Curry is a Philippine dish that uses ox-tail and a whole lot of ingredients including dry roasted peanuts and pounded toasted glutinous rice. It’s one of the dishes commonly served at special occasions. For a beginner chef, it is an intimidating dish to try. Why? Well, first of all, there are so many ingredients in the dish. It looks simple, but it’s not. Also, when you’re overseas, finding or sourcing the ingredients is another problem.
What makes this Kare-Kare easy to make?
I’m happy to say that this dish is doable, especially for people like me who have limited time, and for Filipinos who are based overseas, where ingredients are not easily found. Those who cook the traditional Kare-Kare of course will not like this shortcut. But it tastes and looks like Kare-Kare. So why not try it? By the way, the adding of Chia seeds is for an extra kick of nutrition – completely optional and does not add anything to the taste.
Kare-Kare Recipe
- 500g pork loin
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 medium yellow onion/ 2 small red onions
- 1 bundle yard-long beans (sitaw)
- 2 large/medium-sized eggplants
- 150g of Peanut butter
- 2 large ladles of shrimp paste (bagoong)
- Chinese cabbage / mustard leaves
- Black pepper
- Chia seeds (optional)
Prepare the broth.
- Wash the pork. Pound the pork to make it tender. Chop it into 1.5-inch squares.
- Place the pork into a pot with enough water to cover the pork fully (Estimate the volume). Bring the water to a boil.
- Peel and dice the onions.
- Place the onions into the same pot of water as the pork.
- Allow to boil for around 10-15 minutes or until 1/4 of the liquid has evaporated.
Prepare the main dish.
- Peel and mince the garlic.
- Sauté the garlic until a little brown. Make sure it doesn’t get burnt
- Add the shrimp paste. Sauté with the garlic.
- Remove the pork from the broth and add to the wok. Sauté for a few minutes.
- Add half of the broth to the wok. Allow to simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the peanut butter to the wok. Stir to make sure that it is fully mixed. Allow to simmer.
- Slice the eggplant in half then into 1 – 1.5-inch sizes. Slice the long-yard beans (sitaw) into 1.5 – 2-inch sizes. Chop the Chinese cabbage.
- Add the eggplant and beans into the wok.
- Add the remaining broth. Allow to boil for a few minutes for the vegetables to be cooked.
- Add the Chinese cabbage. Boil for 2 minutes or until cooked.
- Add salt and pepper according to taste.
- Add chia seeds (optional)
- Serve with a side dish of shrimp paste (bagoong) and eat with rice.
ENJOY eating your easy Kare-Kare!!!
