Beef Kare Kare is a rather unique way to cook beef. This Filipino dish combines stewed beef and yummy stir-fried vegetables with a delicious, taste-bud-friendly sauce made of peanut butter and ‘bagoong’ – a sautéed dried shrimp paste! Sounds interesting? If you are a serious foodie, this is one dish that you must try out. If you like peanut butter, you will love it.
‘ Bagoong Guisado ‘ is a sautéed shrimp paste. This condiment is quite tasty! Unlike Thai or Malaysian shrimp paste, it is sautéed and comes in small bottles. You can even have it as a condiment along with your rice.
My Filipina friend, Lyn tells me that I must add enough peanut butter to be able to taste it. It isn’t supposed to be a hidden flavor. Two other special ingredients are used in Kare Kare. One is the Banana Blossom/Puso ng saging. Although I love it, I didn’t want the texture of the entire blossom affecting the smoothness of the dish so I used banana blossom flower that comes dried in packets. The second special ingredient is Atsuete/ Annatto /Achiote Seeds. These seeds were introduced to Filipino cuisine by the Spanish and are often used as a natural coloring agent. The seeds have a mild peppery aroma, when fried, similar to Sichuan pepper – I felt. They are also known as ‘Poor Man’s Saffron ‘ and can help to give rice a yellowish color similar to the color imparted by saffron, but much cheaper! When fried in oil, as in the Kare Kare, they give a nice reddish color. The seeds however must be removed after frying as they taste bitter.
Quite a unique-sounding dish. Wouldn’t you say? It is quite yummy, I tell you.
Beef Kare Kare | Filipino Stewed Beef in Peanut Butter Sauce
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