Kare Kare

Ingredients
3 pounds oxtail
1 1/2 pounds tripe
2 cups creamy peanut butter 
2 cups string beans - cut into 3"
3 BokChoy (cut in the middle lengthwise)
3 cups sliced eggplants - sliced diagonally 1/4"
1 banana heart (optional) - cut into fourths (optional)
3 tablespoons Annatto seeds
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup Bagoong Alamang (shrimp paste)

Procedure
Wash tripe well with warm water and rub with salt to remove grime.  Rinse well.  Boil in a pot with water covering all of the tripe.  Bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes. Strain and discard water.  Do the same thing with the oxtail but save liquid to use later. Cook tripe and oxtail in separate pots.

Prepare Shrimp Paste/Boil Vegetables /extract red color from Annatto seeds/Prepare toasted rice and peanuts while oxtail and honeycomb are simmering:

Brown garlic in canola oil and add shrimp paste. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat or until done. Add sugar and cook for one more minute. Set aside and use as condiment for the Kare-Kare.

In a separate pot, boil the vegetables on medium heat: string beans, banana heart, eggplant, and bokchoy.

Toast rice in a pan on medium heat mixing with a wooden spatula to avoid burning. Adjust heat to low if necessary. Set aside to cool. Grind in a food processor until very fine. Set aside.

Toast peanuts on a wok for about 15 minutes on medium heat. Let cool.  Grind peanut in a food processor until very fine. Set aside.

In a big pan, put 3 tablespoons of olive oil and brown garlic. Add oxtail and tripe until and braised for 5 to 8 minutes. Put back to casserole where oxtail was simmered. Continue simmering on low heat.

Add ground peanut and ground toasted rice and continue simmering. Mix well.

Add annatto water for color and continue simmering on low heat until sauce thickens.

Add boiled vegetables: string beans first, cut banana heart, sliced eggplants. Simmer for 2 more minutes. Add bokchoy and simmer for 1 minute.

Serve with Shrimp Paste as condiment.
*Serves 8

1. *Edited by author 02/01/2011