Kare – kare
A rich stew of ox tail, leg or tripe and a variety of vegetables in a sauce flavored and thickened with roasted ground peanuts (peanut butter is just as good!) and toasted rice flour.
Another way to prepare kare-kare is to cook the vegetables separately in a small amount of water. Place cooked vegetables in the serving bowl and pour over the meat and the sauce. This will give you better control over the texture of the vegetables to prevent overcooking them.
Traditionally, as in during my grandparents’ time, kare-kare was cooked with freshly ground roasted peanuts and rice. Well, there’s nothing like cooking it that way, but I find the procedure too much for today’s busy lifestyle. The easiest option is, of course, to get one of those ready mixes that are abundant in supermarkets. I’ve tried a couple brands. The problem was I didn’t have much control over the taste of the cooked kare-kare. The mix determined the final thickness, flavor and color of the dish. If you’re as particular as I am, well, you look for another option.
So, one time I bought “peanut butter” from the wet market. This “peanut butter” is coarser than the bottled variety and unsweetened. It is not made for sandwiches but is sold particularly for cooking kare-kare. Well, the grains were pretty obvious in the sauce and I didn’t like that either.
It was so frustrating that I actually stopped cooking kare-kare for more than a year. Until one day when my mother-in-law asked if we wanted a huge jar of peanut butter that she didn’t know what to do with. My husband, who’s a real peanut butter fan, gladly accepted. The jar was so huge (2 k.) that after a few weeks, it was just sitting, forgotten, way inside the refrigerator. Now this was sandwich peanut butter. Sweet and smooth. I debated for a while then decided to use it for kare-kare. Guess what? I finally found the perfect peanut butter for my kare-kare. The slightly sweet flavor of the sauce was reaallllyyy great!
As to the ground roasted rice, well, I don’t particularly feel like grinding rice with a mortar and pestle. I have a supply of rice flour in the pantry (for cooking puto or rice cakes). I toasted half a quarter of a cup in the skillet, mixed it with stock and it did the trick–color, thickness, flavor. I’ve been using this little trick for a long time now.
Finally, about bagoong alamang. What is it? Bagoong alamang is a paste of salted and fermented shrimp fingerlings. I guess it’s an acquired taste. Personally, I find the smell and flavor too strong. And I am allergic to it along with other crustaceans–shrimps, lobsters, crabs, prawns… Plus, it is very high in cholesterol and sodium content. I don’t touch the stuff. Does that mean I can’t enjoy my kare-kare? Wrrrooonnnggg! I season my kare-kare so that no additional salty sauce on the side is necessary. My kids grew up without bagoong alamang, although they enjoy their shrimps, prawns, lobsters and prawns.
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Hi!
I was led to your site by a friend of mine recommended I try your Bistek recipe. It continues to be a hit everytime I serve it – last time being Noche Buena.
Now, am writing because am supposed to host dinner for a few friends. Am sure I want to do Kare Kare. I would like to know what other dish I should cook to complement Kare Kare or provide a good contrast to it.
Thanks.
Omar, how about grilled hito and cucumber salad?
Cool! Thanks!
I can just imagine how fab this dinner will be.
Thank you.
You’re welcome.
hi Connie! what brand of peanut butter did u use? i’m gonna attempt my first ever Kare-Kare with ur recipe, and i don’t really want to fail because of bad peanut butter hehehe!
I’m not particular with the brand, geWi. Even the cheap ones work so long as the proportions are right. Just keep tasting the sauce as you add peanut butter.
Hi! You’re recipes are interesting. I find them useful to my everyday research on food styles. Thanks!
i will try to follow the kare kare recipe as my husband loves it. my question is, where can i buy the rice flour? what is it in filipino? if i cant find it, what the alternative? thanks
you’re welcome, m. forrest.
gg, toast 1/2 c. of uncooked rice (bigas) in a pan. Cool then ground to a powder (in a blender or food processor). Then use that. More authentic.
I only use rice flour to save time and effort. 
Ay naku! I have not had this dish in such a long time. My lola use to cook kare-kare alot. She used to add beef tripe, beef honeycomb and lots of sili too.
i love kare – kare its just i dont know how to cook it.
Hi Connie,
You cook kare-kare a little bit differently as mine. I will try your recipe.
btw, I will post this link to my previous blog: http://leahmumfordlang.blogspot.com/2006/07/whats-for-dinner.html
the old link had an error.
Thanks in advance
connie
hi. can we have alternatives from oxtail preparing kare-kare
my partner is ecuadorian and oxtail is a big no-no
Regards, Leah.
Delbert, ox tripe, ox face and ox legs (pata) are popular choices for kare-kare.
pede po ba mag request ng exact recipe copy ng pag luto ng kare kare para mas madali sundan…salamat
joel, pwede bang i-click mo yung link sa page 2 para makita mo yung exact recipe.
hi connie,i want to ask you lang kung ano yung ANATO SEEDS???thanks!!
cha-cha, atsuwete.
i love it you i can’t recipes of kare-kare i love it ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I love Kre kare. My favorite food besides lechon. Kaya mataas ang cholesterol ko dahil sa kare kare eh!
Thank You!
Finally i can try to cook my husband’s favorite…
Halu philippines Halu world!:oops:
Hey i wanna thank you for your website and now i can be able to try to cook for my husband something different.Thanks and more power…God bless
finally, a filipino recipe website that is well thought of. thanks, connie
most pinoy websites are poorly worded, displaying typical pinoy mediocrity…i hate to be another pinoy saying it but it’s true. so yup, i had to let you know that your site is really good, showing concern for the readers by giving exact measurements, time intervals, etc. oh, and the recipes are good and innovative too. all the best to you!
thank you.
thanks for this delicious kare kare recipe, my wife just went crazy about it telling friends.more power!
hi connie, to be honest, i have been ur avid fan for almost 3 yrs now. I started searching for recipe when i was in Iraq, yes I was in Iraq for 3 yrs and presently in Qatar for over a year now. I was an assistant camp manager in Iraq before and taking care of the restaurant and the accommodation for our 91 clients. Mostly americans, british, irish and Indians. we were just 3 Filipinos there. Every weekend we were having a special night like mexican night, hawaiian bbq night, arabian night and lot more. One day, they asked me to prepare filipino dishes for Filipino night and I couldnt find a recipe though I can cook. I went to my computer and email my mom but seems its hard to estimate the quantity of spices and meat for 91 guests. so i browsed in the internet and i found your website. I cooked kare kare, chicken adobo and pansit. it was a hit and was surprised that they all love our food. I got an applause from them after the dinner. Since then, i regularly check ur web and tried most of your recipe. the only sad thing in middle east is that we dont have pork. but i really like your article about your food hunting as it gives me idea where to go when i go home for vacation soon. thanks a lot and keep up the good work. more good places and good food to look forward to.
Hi Ana. You said, “it was a hit and was surprised that they all love our food. I got an applause from them after the dinner.”
Josme, nakaka-touch siguro, ano, when they showed their appreciation? See, we just need to introduce foreigners to our food… Kainis yung mga Pinoy na nagsasabing wala kwenta food natin.
yah, i was touched and was happy that they like our food. after that, i tried the siopao and i got it right first time i tried it. and when we had our karaoke night in our bar in time for the farewell party of one of our colleagues who were relocated to another country, i made a mini siopao with the italian sausage as the filling. it was a hit again and the spring roll.
Im proud of our food bec even here in Qatar, im so amazed how foreigners knows our adobo, pansit and even the sinigang na baka at hipon. and they love it.
Great recipe! I tried cooking this one, and all they can say is – DELICIOUS! Matagal na akong nag hahanap ng recipe ng kare-kare na kugn saan pareho talga sya sa mga natikaman ko sa mga restaurants, only Ms. Connie’s recipe pala can answer…thanks!
hi im bujoy i love to cook… as i searches the web i saw this site and its really cool… i havnt tried this kare-kare so its a challenge for me to try this recipe! i have to go now coz ill buy some ingredient for this! i know my family will love it… ill let you know how it goes… hehehe!
hi im jean ilove to cook even im not dat good dats why im here to learn and iknow my husband goin to love it!!
hi,
it’s my birthday on the 30th ds month, and my family requested for a special kare-kare. I think they will love this one.. I’ll get back to you for their reactions..tnx.
Hi,
I cooked kare kare last night and what a frustation it was to find that I have no recipe for it at home.arrgh!I had half the mind to go out and find internet connection so I can find this. By then it was almost dinnertime, so I didn’t. My mistake was I added tomatoes and I added the peanut butter before the veggies, kaya pala ang tagal nilang maluto.
With this recipe safely in my notebook, I’ll definitely cook kare kare with more confidence next time.
Thanks, Ms. Connie.
kare2 is one of my specialty,,, my unica iha, my friends and relatives is always requesting me to cook this kind of menu…a tail of cow, with creamy peanut butter. Yummy daw pag buntot ng baka ang karne ng kare2.
hi ate i have question…. ano po ba ung ox?tmy iba pba kauong recipe lyk pochero etc… thank u and more power… godbless..
anne, if you could spell your words properly, I might be able to understand your question and give you a clear answer.
hi connie,
i just want to ask, have you ever tried seafood kare-kare? i know how to cook the traditional kare-kare and my husband loves it! but it’s lenten season now and he is requesting for the seafood version. how is it different from the usual? do i need to use ginger or something? thanks. would love to hear from you soon.
oh by the way, it’s my first time to visit your site and i find it very interesting for you did not only feature traditional filipino recipes but have added some twist on it as well. will be trying some of it real soon.
eireen, sorry, never tried seafood kare-kare. I can’t imagine how the seafood won’t turn soggy unless they are cooked separately.
regarding sea food kare-kare:
I have tried several different versions of sea food kare-kare, all versions require that some if not all the sea foods be cooked separately.
One simple version uses tilapia or boneless bangus fillet both of which are pre-fried before adding to the traditional peanut sauce just before serving.
One of my favorite versions uses squid, fish fillet shrimp and mussles. All the sea foods except for the mussles were first pre-fried with a thin coating of batter before adding to the sauce.
May everybody have a blessed lenten season!!!
thanks for this delicious kare kare recipe!
More power!!!
God Bless!!!
Hi Connie,
Everytime i crave for filipino food and want to cook it with some guidance (ratio and proportion of ingredients), i always visit your website. You are very thorough, you know what you’re talking about and you are innovative. My husband is american, he likes most filipino food like sinigang (he always mispronounces it and calls it chinigang), bistek, mechado, adobo, kinda…but believe it or not, he loooooves BAGOONG! He eats it with almost anything, even Doritos. And he likes them home cooked, not the bottled ones you buy in stores. I love your recipes and the different takes you come up with to make use of what is available and using substitutes if one ingredient is not very desirable to you. PLUS, and this is a BIG PLUS…i think you are the only Filipino with a food website that is very detailed and thorough. Most filipino food websites are either incomplete, and copied from each other, are not well-thought out and sorry to say, i am proud of my heritage, but typical filipino, they are made half-ass (sorry for the crude term), just like some producst we make, there is no quality control. All i can say is you stand out and so, more power to you, your family and keep up the good work.
Hi Katrina. Your hubby sounds like a very open-minded food adventurer. Most whites balk at the kind of food we eat. You should read one of the comments in a fish head soup recipe I have in the archive LOL
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I know exactly what you mean by half-ass websites (blogs included), the product of the “pwede na” mentality. Most websites owners don’t care about quality so long as they can insert the proper keywords to enable them to make money with Adsense.
what are annato seeds? cuz my mom’s coming home tonight, and the only thing left in the fridge to cook is the pig tails. Which type of peanut butter best advised to be used?
annato = atsuwete
you need ox tail, not pig tail.
what type of peanut butter = it’s in the entry
im glad im found your website it helps me so much how to cook karekare..
do you have recipe of pansit palabok?
Hi Connie,
I tried cooking kare-kare before using the pre-mix but it was a terrible soggy kare-kare. Then, I never tried it again until me and my husband’s dinner last night. He just had a small operation in his neck yesterday that after the operation, I wanted to pamper him with his favorite food. Unfortunately, that is kare-kare and he does not want me to cook another one after that first try I did before. When I was about to cook dinner, he asked me to boil the lamb meat from the fridge but he did not know what to do with it. He was asking me to experiment with it implicitly. Hehehe! So I browse the internet and look for a kare-kare recipe and hoping I could make it right this time. And then, I saw your recipe. I followed it using the lamb meat of course, and he even thought I was cooking curry. When we were eating our dinner, he was not saying anything but his actions speaks more than his mouth could relish. After the dinner, he even said that it was the best tasting kare-kare ever. I was so happy with the outcome and after dinner, I could not wait to post this comment to share with you how great your recipe is. I even add your website in my favorites!!!
I’ll be visiting your site more often, I swear.
I have been looking for a Filipino cuisine recipe website that are easy and ingredients are accessable from the market.
Thanks so much Connie!
ShaCho, thanks for the feedback. And I’m glad your hubby enjoyed the kare-kare.
In cebu BALBACUA, somewhat likely the same as kare-kare, thus you have an idea on how to cook it?
We ate balbacua once (The Oarhouse, Malate) and my hubby has been dreaming of it since. I can’t find a recent recipe though.
I want to cook something special for my husband for Easter and one of my close friends said that her specialty is kare-kare. I have not cooked kare-kare ever in my life but I thought I could try. I tried to find the recipe in this website and I did!
I tried your recipe and my husband liked it so much. Last Christams I also went to this website to look for baked macaroni recipe. I cooked it and it was well received as well by my famiy and relatives. I cooked it again in our 1st wedding anniversary when my parents came and visited us in the house. They love it.
Thanks for sharing your recipes. You have helped a lot of people especially newly married ones like me. It’s such a joy to be able to cook great food for our loved ones.
Thanks Conie and God bless you and your endeavors.
Ces
Connie,
Thanks for putting together this website. It gives me a place to check if I’m doing my cooking right.
I’ve been living in New Jersey since 2000, and recently got married to an Irish-Italian woman. She told me before that she might not like our cuisine, but boy, did she eat her words (pardon the pun) many times over!
Her favorite food now is tortang giniling na baka, although I kept telling her it’s not really a big thing. I also have done stir-fried vegetables for her, along with chicken sopas and some other stuff. She didn’t like pork sinigang, mainly because of the tanginess. Oh well, more for me!
I read your thing on kare-kare, and was really struck with your issues with peanuts and rice. When my grandmother used to make it, she’d boil the tripe the night before the party, and as it boiled, would set her clay stove outside and I would then transfer the pot of tripe on the stove so it would boil overnight. The next morning, she would wake me up and I’d move the pot back on the stove, and she’d have me grind the peanuts and rice. As you may surmise, that was not an enjoyable thing to do. My reward, though, is I got to eat the kare-kare ahead of others: the dish would be done by 10 am, way before the start of our party at noon.
In one of those times she woke me up to do the peanuts and rice, I figured, why not try grinding them? So, I go her hand-cranked meat grinder and did it there. It worked quite well for the peanuts; the rice wasn’t ground well enough, but it made it easier to do it with the mortar and pestle.
A couple of years later, I tried the blender. The rice turned up really good, as it was a powder-like consistency. The peanuts turned into a paste, something like peanut butter, although a bit chunkier. That actually tasted good. So, everytime she’d make it from then on, I’d be using the blender. Even she liked it. The thing is, she’s not into such modern stuff, so she still woke me up. And I still enjoyed the perks.
Here in the US, I’d go to the supermarket, and they would have those peanut butter that’s unsweetened, which is the same consistency as the one I’d put in the blender. I still do the rice with the blender. The challenge here, though, is finding tripe, or even ox tail: the regular supernarkets don’t usually carry them. So, my search usually turns into adventures, and now I have a couple of Asian supermarkets that I’d go to to get them. I also get my bagoong there (Kamayan and/or Barrio Fiesta brands).
So, try the blender for the peanuts and rice. Just do the rice first, then the peanuts. And before doing so, put the rice into a skillet or frying pan WITHOUT OIL; same with the peanuts. My grandmother tells me, “Kailangan habusin muna ang bigas at mani bago gilingin.” Heat them without burning them (i.e., tunring them brown). Then put them in the blender, one after the other.