How to Cook some Kare-Kare

Ground peanuts and soup stock give kare-kare its signature flavor.

Kare-Kare is a Filipino dish. The stew traditionally contains a variety of ingredients, typically including oxtail, tongue, ears cow or pig skin, peanut sauce, tofu, vegetables, pechay leaves and shrimp sauce. Like oxtail soup and other dishes using"oxtail", kare-kare has no ox at all. The term refers to beef tails.

Things You'll Need

• 1/4 cup annato seeds
• 1 cup grapeseed/rice bran oil
• 3 lbs. beef oxtail
• Stock pot
• 6 cups water
• Strainer
• Large bowl
• 2 1/2 cups peanuts
• Food processor/blender
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 Japanese eggplants
• 1 bunch string beans
• 1/4 cup banana blossom
• 1 bunch pechay
• 1 cup cooked jasmine rice

Instructions

1. Combine 1/4 cup of annato seeds with 1 cup of grapeseed or rice bran oil to make annato oil. Let the mixture sit one hour. Set aside.

2. Chop the oxtail into chunks. Put aside.

3. Fill a stockpot with 6 cups of water. Place the oxtail in the water. Bring the soup to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer on low for three to five hours or so. Strain the broth into a clean bowl, putting it aside.

4. Heat the annato oil in a wok or large pot. Pat the cooked oxtail, and brown it slightly on each side. Set it aside. You may perform this step first, before cooking the oxtail in broth, for a more intense flavor and color.

5. Toast 2 1/2 cups of whole peanuts in a pan until golden-brown. Remove them from heat, and let them cool. Place them in a food processor or blender, grinding them finely. Pour several tablespoons of stock in and mix, until a paste forms. Set it aside.

6. Heat the annato oil used to brown the oxtail. Place two cloves of minced garlic and one shallot in the pan. Saute until the garlic and shallot are translucent. Add two Japanese eggplants (cut into chunks) and one bunch of string beans. Saute them for about five minutes. Add 1/4 cup banana blossom and one bunch pechay. Cook for another five minutes.

7. Add the peanut paste, vegetables and browned oxtail back to the broth in a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

8. Serve the kare-kare with cooked jasmine rice. This recipe makes six to eight servings.

Tips & Warnings

• For very tender oxtail, simmer the meat a day before preparing the stew.

• Trim the fat off oxtail soup, and leave out cow and pig skin for a healthier stew.

References

• RasaMalaysia; Filipino Kare-Kare (Oxtail and Peanut Stew); Apr. 23, 2010
• Whats4Eats: Kare-Kare
• Filipino Recipes: Kare-Kare Recipe

Resources

• Northern Illinois University Center for Southeast Asian Studies: Philippine Cuisine