Sunday, October 23, 2005

KARE KARE

There's nothing like a good roll and when you can eat the next day without any trouble, you know that shit was clean. So since we had a good roll and a long rest, Richie and I decide it's time to make some Filipino oxtail stew.

Kare Kare (pronounced ka-re ka-re) is a stew that is traditionally made with oxtail. You can almost never go wrong anytime you cook a piece of meat for three hours. No matter what kind of meat it is, it's going to turn pretty damn soft. However, because oxtail is so muscular, it really does take three hours to get the meat to fall of the bone. Kare kare is one of the most well-known and traditional of Filipino dishes and I present you my version of it proudly.

2 packages oxtail (about four lbs.)
1 tomato
1 medium onion
2 cans vegetable stock
1 tbl. annatto seeds
2 tbl. oil
3/4 cup peanut butter mixed in 1/2 cup hot water
1 tbl. ground raw rice
3 dashes Tabasco
Chinese green beans
Chinese egg plant
Bagoong to taste

There are many variations to this dish and I've tried them all. You can broil the oxtail until browned, but I prefer browning them in the pot you are cooking with. Remember to season the oxtail with salt and pepper. Don't brown with a non-stick pot - you won't be able to achieve the browning that is needed. Remove the oxtail from the pot and any excess oil. Reheat the pot and add the diced onions. Cook until translucent. You will have bits of oxtail left in the pot. Add the vegetable stock and deglaze the pot. Add the diced tomato.

Replace the oxtail in the pot and simmer for 1.5 hours with a lid. Stir occasionally. Remove the oxtail again. Add the annatto oil (you can make annatto oil by heating oil to a medium temperature and slowly cooking the annatto seeds until the oil becomes a dark red) without the seeds. Add the crushed rice, peanut butter mixture and Tabasco. I've also tried adding peanut butter to some store bought kare kare seasoning packages and it's pretty good too. Mix well and be sure the ingredients are dissolved. You can add as much or as little peanut butter as you care to.

Replace the oxtail and simmer another 1.5 hours with lid partially open. I like to cut my vegetables into small bite-sized pieces so they cook faster. Add them when there's about 1/2 hour left in the cooking period. Be sure to taste the stock. If there's not enough flavor, add some bagoong to taste (bagoong is a shrimp paste you can purchase at any Asian market).

Be sure to test the meat. Keep cooking if it's not tender enough. The worst mistake you can make is to have undercooked oxtail. It is the toughest meat you'll ever bite into. However, when cooked properly, it will be the most tender piece of meat you'll have.

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