MANILA, Philippines—Among the popular dishes in the Kapampangan Food Festival going on at Hotel InterContinental’s Café Jeepney is the kare-kare.

Made with ox tail, ox ear (or ox feet) and tripe, and thickened with rice flour and peanuts, it’s kare-kare slow-cooked the old-fashioned way.

Guest chef for the festival Lillian Lising Borromeo was kind enough to share the following recipe for this delicious oxtail stew.

A member of the prominent Hizon and Mercado families who are stalwarts of Pampanga, Borromeo still prepares some of her dishes using centuries-old utensils she inherited from her mother. Through her company Kapampangan Culinary Heritage, she accepts orders for her specialties that include Panecillos de San Nicolas (saniculas cookies), Angel’s Delight and Dulce Prenda (tel. 045-8750378, 0915-7730788).

The buffet of Kapampangan food is being offered for lunch and dinner daily at Café Jeepney (tel. 7937000) until July 31.

Kare-kare

1 k ox tail
1 k ox ear or ox feet
½ k beef tripe
12-16 c water
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 onions, sliced
1 tbsp chopped garlic
¼ c achuete seeds
½ c rice flour
¾ c crushed toasted peanuts
1 medium-size heart of banana, sliced lengthwise
1 small bundle sitaw, trimmed and sliced into 3-inch pieces
2 medium eggplants, sliced diagonally
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash and clean the meats very well. Put in a stockpot and pour in water. Bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer. Let simmer for about 2 hours or until meats are tender.

Remove meat from broth and cut into serving pieces. Reserve the broth.

In another pot large enough to accommodate all the ingredients, heat cooking oil and saute onions and garlic.

Soak the achuete seeds in 2 cups of the reserved broth and stir to extract the color. Strain the broth into the pot (discard the achuete seeds). Bring to a boil.

Add the tenderized meats and pour in remaining broth. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the rice flour in a nonstick pan until a light brown. Scoop out about 1 cup of the simmering broth and mix with the flour until smooth. Pour back into pot.

Stir in crushed peanuts. Add the banana heart, sitaw and eggplants.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue simmering until vegetables are tender-crisp.

Serve with rice and bagoong.

TIPS

When simmering the meats to tenderize, make sure the meats are fully immersed in water. If necessary, add more water.

If the meats won’t fit into one stockpot, tenderize the tripe or the ox tail separately.

To better extract the color from the achuete, warm the 2 cups reserved broth (if it has already cooled) before adding the achuete seeds.

Stir to extract the color, then strain liquid directly into the pot (Or strain into a bowl then pour the strained liquid into the pot.).