Kare - kare

I have the impression before that this dish is quite complicated so I never dared to prepare one. Actually it’s the mixture that I find complicated. I asked my friend for the recipe and tried it.  I have to modify though some of the ingredients, mainly the pork was substituted with beef.

Ingredients you’ll need

View Full Album

• 1/2 kg beef tripe (tuwalya), with some laman. You may use also oxtail. 
• Mama Sita’s Kare-kare peanut sauce mix.
• Barrio Fiesta Sautéed shrimp paste (bagoong alamang)
• Vegetables (eggplant cut into quarters, string beans cut into 3” length). You may add banana heart (puso ng saging) and pechay. I did not add more as it will be way too much for me & kuya.
• 3 cloves of Garlic
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 6 cups water

 

 Step by step cooking

1. Cook the meat for 30 minutes in a pressure cooker just until tender.
2. Dissolve the Mama Sita’s mix in 1 cup of water.
3. Sauté garlic and onion in the oil until cooked and translucent.  Drop the meat into the pot and stir-fry.
4. Add the dissolved mama sita’s mix. Add the remaining broth from the cooker. Stir and simmer until the sauce thickens.
5. Add the vegetables (if you are adding peachay, leave it at the end). Cook for another 3 minutes.
6. Lastly, drop in the pechay and cook for 2 more minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. 
7. Serve while hot with bagoong and rice.

After I finished preparing, I realized it wasn’t at all hard to cook this dish.  Of course, except looking for the achuete ingredient in this country (the reason why I used the Mama Sita’s mix).

You will never go wrong with this dish, I mean it will never be a fail as you don’t even need to season it with salt.  It’s just a matter of mixing the meat, the sauce and the veggies and you’re done! The bagoong will complete the dish!

Saint Peter’s Fish with Coconut Milk (Ginataang Tilapia)

I can’t remember where exactly I learned this dish..I guess its either in my Uncle Jess' house when I stayed there during my college days or from Ate Baby (my landlady in KNL – Diliman, Q.C.) :)

It’s a dish I learned while away from home…then shared to my family when I went back…and they love it!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg tilapia, cleaned & sliced into desired portion
• 5 cloves garlic, pealed
• 1 medium ginger, pealed & julienne sliced (this helps eradicate the ‘bad’ smell of the fish)
• 2 spring onions, cut into 3 inches length
• 5 medium sized eggplants, cut length-wise into quarters
• 1/8 kg string beans (or more if you desire), cut into around 3 inches long
• Optional: 1 long green pepper / siling haba (for a bit of spice)
• Other veggies you may add: 1 bundle of pechay (separate the stalks with the leaves; cut stalks into half)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 vegetable bullion cube (fish cube may do)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 1/4 cup water

Preparation /Cooking:

• Arrange the fish slices in a casserole. Put in the garlic cloves and ginger. Sprinkle some salt & pepper. Add the vinegar and water. Cover, bring to boil and simmer in low fire until all the water has nearly evaporated.
• Pour in the coconut milk. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Next, drop the bullion cube and all the vegetables except the spring onions. If pechay is among your veggies, put first the stalks as they take longer time to cook. When the vegetables are nearly done, add the pechay leaves and spring onions.
• Lastly, check the taste. Season with salt if necessary.
• Garnish, serve with rice.

For guests with saltier taste, prepare fish sauce squeezed with a bit of lemon juice.

Note: You may substitute the tilapia with crab. All you need to do is remove the vinegar from the ingredients and just cook the same way as instructed.