A simple version of the simmered Kare Kare recipe that anyone can make. This is a slow cooker version, but you can also cook this Kare Kare Mama Sita recipe on the stove!

Jump into the recipe.

Kare kare is a dish I discovered late in life. I’m not sure why, but I have no memory of it in my childhood. The first memory I have of Karekare is to share it with friends from the university in the Student Union Building at UPLB at the university. Popular as it is as homemade Pinoy food, it was a dish that I didn’t really like, like in Like-Like. It was fine, I guess, but the combination of peanuts and alamang (shrimp paste) didn’t appeal to me.

About 10 years ago, my husband took me to Café Juanita, a restaurant in Kapitolyo (Pasig City). Cafe Juanita is not a place I would like to go, despite the favorable reviews because, well, it is known for its Pinoy food. It’s a place you’d take Balikbayan expats and friends to but wouldn’t go there to eat. What can they prepare that I wouldn’t know how to do? I mean the price is just a sign of staying away. Anyway, since it’s a surprise date and my husband has booked, I was trying to gather gratitude in my heart.

To make a long story short, I asked for Karekare and man! I was impressed! A decade later, I can still savor that creaminess of peanut butter folding into my tongue. After that, I became obsessed with Karekare. I did it in Pata (pork hock) version, chicken version, beef skin version, in tripe version, even a meatless version. I did it from scratch, I did it with Mama Sita, I made it with ready-made peanut butter, I made it with freshly ground peanuts… Unfortunately, I’m sad to report that I’ve never duplicated that taste. I don’t know if there’s anything wrong with my memory because I went back there just to try to figure out the recipe, but I never had the same mind-blowing taste again.

The closest I got close to was when I used beef skin.

Today,

however, we are cooking Karekare without all the hoops and loops. Some moms are afraid to cook it because of all the steps needed to do it. I imagine them imagining their moms and Lola’s ground peanuts, puffing and puffing over toasted rice. Are you getting that image? Haha!

Nowadays, we were using modern gadgets and modern conveniences: my handy slow cooker dandy and… Omigosh, dare I say it? Shhhh, the other one is Kare Kare Mix by Mama Sita! It will be our little secret. And if someone calls you for using a pre-made mix, tell them to go back to the 1960s. ????

PS.

If you’re in the United States or somewhere else in the world, Mama Sita Kare Kare Mix is available on Amazon. There is also shrimp paste. Although I imagine they are available in any Asian store near you.

Don’t have a slow cooker yet? Read here why you should buy one! If you’re a working mom, this is perfect for you. You can set it up in the morning and head home to a wonderfully smelly house with your dinner already cooked!

(See this vegetarian version of Kare Kare by Mama Sita.)

Ingredients

1

kilo oxtail (buntot ng baka)1 Maggi Beef Cubes totally optional of course!1 on Mama Sita Kare Kare Mix Diluted in 1/2 cup of water. I like to mix these 2 ? together, but if a package of sauce is not available, make this 2 sachets1 about Mama Sita Kare Kare Salsa1 chopped onion6 garlic cloves, chopped1 tablespoon oil1 tablespoon fish sauce (cakes)1 cup peanut butter Preferably the sugar-free version you can buy at the market2 cups meat brothVegetablesCut and scalded eggplantCut and scalded pechay (or Bokchoy) Cut and blanched banana heart flower Cut and

scalded beans Instructions

Boil the oxtail for 10 minutes and discard the water. Wash the meat to remove the foam. Put the oxtail in the slow cooker, add enough water to cover the meat. Add the meat cube. Put on for 4 hours. Heat the oil in a large skillet and sauté the garlic and onion. Add the slow-cooked oxtail and Mama Sita’s Kare-Kare mixes. Add the remaining stock. Add the peanut butter. Stir and simmer for two minutes. Remove the meat and place it in a dish. Add the pre-boiled vegetables and stir gently. Turn off the heating immediately. Place the vegetables on top of the meat. Pour the sauce. Serve with rice and sautéed shrimp paste.

Notes

* I

like to roast my banana heart flower when I have time.* Pangasinan Alamang – the brown on the market tastes a thousand times better than bottled ones. If there’s nothing like this where you live, I recommend Barrio Fiesta Regular, not the sweet one!* Eggplant tastes better if fried!* If you use Pata (pork hock), it’s best to fry it first. Lower the slow cooker to 3 hours.