Kare-kareng Kulang-kulang
The last time I tried cooking kare-kare was decades ago but let’s not start counting please. That was back in HS with the help of my dad and sis. It wasn’t even successful as the beef tripe was tough and chewy my teeth still hurts just thinking about it. Fate never led me to cook it again ever since. This stew in peanut sauce isn’t really one of my favorites and anyhoo, I had my regular dose occasionally. But not anymore. Bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp paste) isn’t something that a pinoy in Beijing can easily get and I have no idea where to find atsuete (annatto seeds). So our cravings for kare-kare get intense each day until I asked A if he’d go as far as touch it even without the condiment. He said yes and I almost dance with joy! I googled recipes online; settled with those from Connie and the Marketman. I was particularly inspired by Connie’s as she doesn’t use bagoong at all. Not that I don’t like the stuff but because I don’t have it and I just can’t wait for the next bottle to reach me from Manila or Hongkong.
So here is my version of kare-kare sans annatto seeds, banana heart and bagoong alamang – our lunch one weekend more than a month ago. I like kare-kare with pork rind that literally melts in your mouth so I used pork hocks instead of beef tripe to go with oxtail. I used mortar and pestle to pound rice and peanuts and yeah I am not good at it. Oh well, I struggled for weeks with the idea of whether to blog it or not. Thought about making it an entry for Lasang Pinoy – Barrio Fiesta but no, I’d think of another one for that event. As you can see in the photos, the color doesn’t seem right but by the way A ate plate after plate with gusto, I take it as really good! Or just another case of “absence makes the heart grows fonder”.
My New Year blogging was greeted with erratic internet issues since international links were disrupted by the Taiwan earthquake a week earlier. (Guess how long did it take to post this entry and upload all the photos?) Oh well… not to mention few projects that may or may not mean big bucks that kept us real busy. Anyways, here’s one before I go back to work. We were given a bottle of Beijing wine last Christmas and had few cups left that I experimented on beef stew.
But before we get to the recipe check out A‘s Paris Baguette birthday cake next to the bottle of Beijing red wine. Oh yeah babaw lng ng kaligayahan namin but we think we are in love with this Korean-owned bakery what with its cakes and pastries filled with crazy creamy goodness, lots of real butter and sugar and heavenly goodness of what-nots. Even the sandwiches are great!
What I had in mind actually is beef pares. This is already my 2nd attempt and my official tagatikim (food taster) thought what I did here is very similar to the one served in our favorite restaurant back home. Still we believe a stronger flavor would do the trick. My guess is star anise. I purposely omit it as we don’t really like too ‘Chinese’ tasting dish but I will definitely stir it in next time. I was also lazy to add in cornstarch to make thicker sauce so for the meantime, I will call this dish simply beef toppings. The hard-boiled egg in the photo? Well, I felt like I wanted to add some in the stew.