Kare-Kare

Kare-kare is a Filipino stew with a thick peanut sauce. Vanjo Merano’s oxtail version combines ground roasted peanuts, creamy peanut butter and toasted ground rice, with annatto giving the sauce its orange colour. Banana flower, eggplant, string beans and bok choy join the tender meat.

The selected stovetop method simmers oxtail and chopped onion in water until the meat becomes tender. Annatto seeds soak separately in warm water; their coloured liquid is strained into the pot and the seeds are discarded.

Ground peanuts and peanut butter simmer with the oxtail before toasted glutinous rice flour thickens the sauce. A splash of water can loosen it when needed, or an uncovered simmer can reduce a thin sauce.

Garlic sautés in a separate pan before banana flower, eggplant and string beans follow. These vegetables move into the stew, and bok choy wilts at the end. Salt and pepper finish it, with hot service, rice and bagoong alamang alongside.

The nutty sauce clings to the oxtail and vegetables. The author keeps the shrimp paste separate so diners can add its savoury seasoning to the mild peanut stew and rice.