Beef kare-kare
The chuck and the pechay
The peanut butter
Filipino
Beef kare-kare
Chuck steak and tripe in a peanut stew, with eggplant, beans, and pechay. Rice and bagoong on the side.
This is the kare-kare I cook.I use chuck steak instead of oxtail, plus tripe, and peanut butter whether I start from scratch or from a pouch of Mama Sita's. I used turmeric and paprika instead of annatto, Massel beef powder (2½ tsp for 5 cups of water), and no rice flour. The sauce was thick enough with Mama Sita's and peanut butter. The cover is the bowl, with rice and bagoong. The jar in the photograph is Bega crunchy. The sauce I wrote is unsweetened peanut butter. It keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Freeze it without the pechay and add that fresh when you reheat.
Before you cook
Kare-kare is a Filipino peanut stew, usually oxtail or tripe, finished with vegetables and a dish of bagoong on the side. The sauce is the point: thick, nutty, and mild, so the salty shrimp paste can sit next to it. Where the name came from is argued. Some hear kari in it, some a Spanish-era table. My pot uses chuck steak instead of oxtail.
- Serves
- 5
- Time
- 180 min
- Level
- Project
- Energy
- 760kcal
- Project
Contains nuts, fish and shellfish.
Equipment
- Large heavy pot with a lid
- Knife and board
- Ladle
- Tongs
If you have the machine. A pressure cooker is only a shortcut for the beef. Brown the meat first, cook on high for 30 minutes, rest 10 to 15 minutes, then add the sauce and the vegetables as in the pot method.
Each serving
An estimate from average ingredient values, not a lab test.
- Energy
- 3180 kJ
- 760 kcal
- Protein
- 45 g
- Fat
- 48 g
- Carbohydrate
- 18 g
- Sugars
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
- Salt
- 1.8 g
- Sodium
- 720 mg
This batch, 5 servings, is about 15899 kJ (3800 kcal), with 30 g sugars and 9 g salt.
Ingredients
Tick them off as you go. They reset when you leave.
Shops near you
Use where you are, including when you travel. Nothing is sent until you tap. Or type a suburb. Prices are not listed, because they change every week.
Bagoong, Mang Tomas, Mama Sita’s, and fresh curry leaves are often missing from the big shops. A Filipino or Asian grocer is the backup. Do not swap bagoong for plain salt and expect the same dish.
Method
- 01
If the tripe is not already tender, simmer it with a slice of ginger, a splash of vinegar, and a bay leaf for 1½ to 2 hours. Slice it into strips about 1 cm by 3 to 4 cm. I do not measure the ginger, vinegar, or bay leaf.
- 02
Heat the oil in a large pot. Cook the garlic and onion until they smell sweet.
- 03
Add the chuck, season it, and brown it. Add the tripe.
- 04
Pour in the 5 cups of broth or water. Simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, until the beef is tender.
- 05
From scratch: dissolve the peanut butter in 1 to 2 cups of the hot broth, stir in the annatto, or the turmeric and paprika, and pour it back into the pot. Shortcut: dissolve the Mama Sita's mix in 1 cup of hot broth, stir in the ½ cup of peanut butter, and add that. Thin with ¼ cup of water if it turns pasty. Do not use both sauces.
- 06
If the sauce is thin, dissolve 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour in ¼ cup of broth and stir it in. I skipped this.
- 07
Add the eggplant and beans and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the pechay and cook until it wilts.
- 08
Serve with rice and bagoong.
Times are a guide. If it needs another minute, give it another minute.
To serve
Rice in a bowl, the stew over it, and a little sautéed bagoong on the side. I do not stir the shrimp paste through the pot.
Keeping it
Cool it, then keep it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Freeze it without the pechay, and add that fresh when you reheat. Reheat until it is steaming.
Leftovers
- Kare-kare fried rice
For a parent, a student, or anyone who cooked yesterday.
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Hungry Alan
Beef kare-kare
Serves 5 · 180 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg chuck steak, cut into large cubes
- 300 g beef tripe, pre-boiled and sliced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 5 cups water, or broth made with 2½ tsp Massel beef powder
- salt and pepper
- ¾ cup unsweetened peanut butter, if you make the sauce from scratch
- 1 tsp annatto powder, or ½ tsp turmeric plus 1 tsp sweet paprika
- fish sauce or salt, to taste
- ½ cup peanut butter, only if you use the Mama Sita's shortcut instead
- 1 pouch Mama Sita's kare-kare mix (57 g), the shortcut instead of the from-scratch sauce
- 1 medium eggplant, sliced on the diagonal
- 1 bunch string beans, cut into 5 cm pieces
- 1 bunch pechay or bok choy
- sautéed bagoong, to serve
Method
- If the tripe is not already tender, simmer it with a slice of ginger, a splash of vinegar, and a bay leaf for 1½ to 2 hours. Slice it into strips about 1 cm by 3 to 4 cm. I do not measure the ginger, vinegar, or bay leaf.
- Heat the oil in a large pot. Cook the garlic and onion until they smell sweet.
- Add the chuck, season it, and brown it. Add the tripe.
- Pour in the 5 cups of broth or water. Simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, until the beef is tender.
- From scratch: dissolve the peanut butter in 1 to 2 cups of the hot broth, stir in the annatto, or the turmeric and paprika, and pour it back into the pot. Shortcut: dissolve the Mama Sita's mix in 1 cup of hot broth, stir in the ½ cup of peanut butter, and add that. Thin with ¼ cup of water if it turns pasty. Do not use both sauces.
- If the sauce is thin, dissolve 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour in ¼ cup of broth and stir it in. I skipped this.
- Add the eggplant and beans and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the pechay and cook until it wilts.
- Serve with rice and bagoong.
To serve
Rice in a bowl, the stew over it, and a little sautéed bagoong on the side. I do not stir the shrimp paste through the pot.
Keeping it
Cool it, then keep it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Freeze it without the pechay, and add that fresh when you reheat. Reheat until it is steaming.