Simplified Beef Kare Kare

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 5 garlic cloves

• 1 medium-sized onion

• 5 cups of beef broth

• ½ cup of all-natural peanut butter

• 1 ½ tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 pack of kare kare mix

• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

• 1kg beef chuck or brisket 

• Salt and pepper to taste 

• Eggplant

• String beans

• Bok choy

Directions:

1. Prep your ingredients by finely chopping the garlic, slicing the onions, and making sure the beef is cut into cubes. For the vegetables, slice the eggplant and cut the string beans into about 3 inch pieces.

2. In a large pot heat up the oil over medium-high heat. 

3. Sear the beef on all sides until brown then transfer to a plate.

4. Add the onions and garlic to the pot and cook until the onions are translucent. 

5. Add the beef back to the pot and add fish sauce.

6. Pour in the beef broth and let it come to a boil then lower the heat to medium.

7. Cook the beef for around an hour or two or until the meat is tender. 

8. In half a cup of water, dissolve the kare kare mix and set aside.

9. Once the beef is ready add the string beans and eggplant and let it cook for a couple of minutes before adding the bok choy.

10.  Pour the kare kare mix, peanut butter, and sugar into the pot. Stir well.

11.  Transfer the vegetables onto a plate and continue cooking the meat in the sauce until the liquid has thickened. 

12.  You may taste the sauce and adjust the flavor if necessary. 

13.  Once you are satisfied with the sauce can transfer the meat and sauce into a dish and place the vegetables on top. 

14.  Serve with a cup of rice and some bagoong or your choice of shrimp or fish paste. 

Notes:

• Kare kare can be stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Just make sure you use an airtight container. 

• When it comes to reheating the dish you may add a bit of water to loosen the sauce and bring it back to the right consistency.

• You may opt to use other vegetables such as banana heart, green beans, zucchini, pechay, cabbage, daikon, and spinach.

• If you want to speed up the cooking process or are cooking a large batch, you can utilize a pressure cooker to shorten the overall cooking time.

• When choosing a peanut butter make sure it's smooth and not overly sweet. You can also use homemade peanut butter by just blending peanuts until it becomes smooth.

• If you have a peanut allergy, you may switch out peanut butter with cashew butter or even sunflower butter. 

• You can also make kare kare with other kinds of meat such as pork leg, tripe, ox tail, and goat. In some cases, you can mix two kinds such as ox tail and tripe.  

• There are also other cuts of beef you can use for a beef kare kare aside from chuck and brisket. You can also use beef shanks or something known as Maskara ng Baka which refers to the cartilage from the cow’s face. 

• If meat is not what you prefer, you can also use a mix of seafood by using shrimp, crabs, mussels, and squid. 

• During the cooking process if the sauce does not thicken just use potato starch or cornstarch to achieve the correct consistency.