Kare Kare With Beans Baby Bok Choy And Eggplant Recipes

KARE KARE

Steps:

• For the brisket: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Stir together 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle the brisket with the salt and pepper mix. Place the brisket fat-side up in a pan lined with a baking rack and add 1 1/2 cups water. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the fat has rendered, 3 to 4 hours. Dice into 1-inch cubes and set aside. Reserve brisket juices.
• For the kare kare sauce: Heat up a medium saucepot; add 1 tablespoon oil. Sautee the onions and garlic until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut butter, granulated sugar, salt and 7 cups water. Mix well and bring up to a boil. Meanwhile, heat up 3 cups brisket drippings and the annatto seeds in another pot and simmer until the brisket drippings achieve a nice red/brownish color, about 5 minutes. Strain the brisket drippings into the peanut butter mixture. Simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about 30 minutes.
• For the bagoong alamang: Heat up a medium saute pan; add oil. Saute the garlic, tomatoes and onions until the tomatoes have cooked down, about 6 minutes. Strain the salted shrimp to get out most of the liquid out, then add to the pan. Add the brown sugar and cook until a pastelike consistency is formed, another 5 minutes.
• Boil the bok choy, eggplant and green beans separately in boiling water until cooked through, then drain and set aside.
• Add about 10 ounces kare kare sauce to a flat bowl. Add about 4 to 5 pieces each of the bok choy, eggplant and long beans. Place the diced brisket on top and garnish with peanuts, a sprig of cilantro and a side of bagoong alamang. Serve with a side of jasmine rice. Repeat to make 3 to 5 more servings.

KARE-KARE WITH BEANS, BABY BOK CHOY, AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Bundle achiote seeds, peppercorns, and bay leaves in cheesecloth and tie closed with kitchen twine; set sachet aside.
• Preheat oven to 225°F. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large Dutch oven or wide heavy pot over medium-high. Season oxtails generously with salt and pepper. Cook half of oxtails until browned all over, 8-12 minutes; transfer to a platter. Add 1 Tbsp. oil to pot; cook remaining oxtails. Pour off all but 3 Tbsp. fat from pot. (If pot is scorched, clean and start with 3 Tbsp. fresh oil.)
• Return pot to medium-high heat. Cook chopped onion, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, stirring often, until lightly browned and very soft, 12-15 minutes. Add wine; cook, scraping up any browned bits, until almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add 2 quarts water and reserved sachet. Bring to a vigorous boil; cook 1 minute. Return oxtails to pot (add water if needed to just cover). Reduce heat so liquid is simmering gently, cover, and transfer to oven. Braise, checking every 2 hours and adding more water if needed to keep oxtails barely submerged, until meat is just about falling off the bone, 6-8 hours. Let cool. Skim off fat; discard. (Or, ideally, chill overnight and scrape off fat before proceeding.)
• Remove oxtails from pot; pull meat from bones. Discard bones (or save some meaty bones for serving). Strain braising liquid into a large bowl. You should have 6-8 cups; simmer to reduce further or add water if needed. Discard solids.
• Clean pot and heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil over medium. Cook sliced onion, garlic, and garlic chives, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add bok choy, eggplant, taro (if using), and long beans; cook, stirring often, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add braising liquid and bring to a simmer; season with salt. Cook until vegetables are halfway tender, 6-8 minutes. Stir in peanut butter to dissolve, then add meat. Cook just until meat is heated through, vegetables are tender, and flavors have melded, about 5 minutes. Season with more salt if needed.
• Divide kare-kare among bowls; top with peanuts and red chile. Serve with shrimp paste.

OXTAIL STEW IN PEANUT SAUCE (KARE-KARE)

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Season the oxtails well with salt and pepper.
• Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium to medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed, ovenproof pot with a lid. Brown the oxtails on all sides then remove them to a plate. (You may need to do this in batches, so as not to crowd the pan.)
• Remove all but a tablespoon or so of the fat in the bottom of the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions, celery and carrot and cook them until they are soft and aromatic, about 3 to 6 minutes.
• Stir in the thyme sprigs, letting them just soften, then add the red wine and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
• Add the oxtails to the pot with the shaoxing wine and enough stock to fully cover the meat. Cover the pot and let it cook in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is fork tender but not falling off the bone.
• About 15 minutes before the oxtails are done, prepare the vegetables: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 5 minutes until eggplant is softened, then set it aside.
• Prepare the beans: Wipe the skillet clean, increase the heat to medium-high and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the beans, season with salt and pepper and quickly stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, then set aside.
• Prepare the bok choy: Add the remaining oil to the pan, cook the bok choy with a pinch of salt until bright green and tender, about 2 minutes, then set aside.
• When the oxtails are tender, remove the meat from the liquid in the pot and set it aside on a plate. Strain the fat and any other matter out of the braising liquid and discard it. You should have 5 cups of liquid; if you have less, add additional stock to total 5 cups, then simmer the liquid over medium-high heat until it has reduced by half.
• Turn the heat to low, and using a hand blender, mix in the peanut butter and soy sauce and sugar, to taste. Add the achuete oil, blend again and let simmer for 2 minutes to thicken slightly.
• Return the meat to the pot and let it cook until heated through, a minute or two. Serve hot with the room temperature vegetables on top, rice and bagoong on the side.

KARE-KARE (OXTAIL AND VEGETABLES IN PEANUT SAUCE)

Steps:

• NOTE: Season as desired with salt and pepper at each stage. But season lightly: dish should be undersalted, since it will be eaten with salty bagoong.
• Place the onion and oxtail in a large pot. Add water to cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours or until tender. (Or cook for 35 minutes in the pressure cooker at high pressure.).
• When preparing the banana blossom and eggplant, as you slice, put the pieces into water with a bit of lemon juice, to prevent them turning brown.
• Heat a big skillet or wok and add vegetable oil. Saute the garlic. Add the eggplant, banana blossom, and long beans; cook for 10 minutes. Add baby bok choy and cook for 5 minutes more, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Reserve vegetables.
• Remove meat from broth, keeping broth in pot. If desired, when cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Add meat to vegetable mixture; reserve.
• Add a little broth to the peanut butter; stir until well blended, adding more broth if necessary. Bring the broth to a simmer. In a bowl, combine annatto powder with cold water; mix until smooth; add annatto mixture to broth. Simmer, stirring, until sauce thickens and does not taste floury.
• Add meat and vegetables, and cook until heated through. Meat should be very tender; vegetables should be tender but not falling apart. If desired, add water to make more sauce.
• Serve with bagoong (fermented shrimp paste). I prefer the guisado (sauteed) kind, regular flavor (not sweet or hot).
• * NOTE * Fresh banana blossom should be large and dense, and feel tightly packed. * To clean: First take off the outer dark red bracts and accompanying tiny matchsticks (baby bananas!) -- these are inedible. Continue until you reach the pale pink/yellow inside and it's becoming difficult to peel apart. Cut off the inedible stem. Cut blossom into 1-inch slices, dropping into lemon water to prevent browning. Separate the blossoms (like you would leeks). If possible, let them soak for a little while, to remove any bitterness. * You can use the same water for the eggplant. *.