Kare-kare or kari-kari is a popular Filipino dish especially in the Tagalog region. The Filipino version of the beef stew flavoured and thickened in a peanut - based sauce, with a variety of vegetables. The most common cuts of beef used are tail, shank or face. A combination of the three may be used and most cooks preferred to add tripe. If these are not available you can use round or sirloin cut.
The meat is first tenderized, then sauteed in garlic, bagoong, annatto seeds, and vegetables. Peanut butter is added during the last stages of cooking to thicken the sauce and give the characteristic flavour of the kari-kari.
Most common vegetables used are string beans or snake beans, pechay or baby bachoy, eggplant and banana buds from the banana heart, (optional ).
Kare-kare is always serve with white boil rice and bagoong alamang on the side.Bagoong Alamang is a paste of salted and fermented shrimp fingerlings, it is like a shrimp paste. Bagoong has a strong taste for some people but for me kare - kare is not kare kare if not serve with bagoong.
If green mangoes are available, it will be nice to serve it as a salad.


