Kare-Kare
Oxtail and tripe braised until tender, then simmered in a thick peanut sauce with eggplant, long beans and banana blossom. Served with shrimp paste on the side.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 3 h
- total
- 3 h 30 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- medium
Kare-kare is Pampanga's rich, peanut-based stew: oxtail and tripe braised until completely tender, then folded into a thick peanut sauce with eggplant, long beans and banana blossom.
The shrimp paste served alongside is essential, not optional. A spoonful stirred into your bowl is what actually balances all that peanut richness.
Part of our 20 best Filipino recipes list.
method
Simmer the oxtail and tripe in the water with half the onion, skimming occasionally, for 2.5 to 3 hours, until very tender. Reserve the broth.
Heat a little oil in a large pot, and soften the remaining onion and garlic.
Add about 1.5 liters of the reserved broth and the annatto liquid, and bring to a simmer.
Stir in the peanut butter until fully dissolved into the broth, then add the ground toasted rice to thicken further.
Add the cooked oxtail and tripe back in, season with fish sauce, salt and pepper, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the eggplant, long beans and banana blossom, and simmer another 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.
Serve hot with rice and a small side dish of shrimp paste for dipping or stirring in.
chef's tips
- The shrimp paste on the side is not a garnish, it's how the dish is actually eaten: a spoonful stirred into your own bowl cuts through the richness of the peanut sauce.
- Ground toasted rice, a traditional Filipino thickener, gives a slightly nuttier, grainier body than cornstarch, though cornstarch works in a pinch.
- Oxtail needs real time to turn tender; do not rush the first simmer, or the meat stays tough under the sauce.
- Banana blossom can be hard to find outside the Philippines; extra eggplant or even green papaya makes a reasonable stand-in.