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Kare-Kare

Kare-Kare is a Filipino stew of oxtail, pig hocks, beef, peanut butter, toasted rice, eggplant, banana bud, string beans, garlic, onion, shrimp paste, and oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Kare-Kare

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the meat

  1. Boil oxtail, hocks, and beef in a casserole.

  2. Lower heat and let simmer until all meat is tender and cooked.

  3. Remove all scum that rises to the surface.

  4. Take out the meat and set it aside.

  5. Keep the stock for later.

Make the sauce

  1. Heat oil and atsuete oil in another casserole.

  2. Saute garlic.

  3. Saute onion.

  4. Saute shrimp paste (bagoong alamang).

  5. Saute toasted rice.

  6. Saute nuts (if using nuts).

  7. Add oxtail, hocks, and beef.

  8. Pour in the stock.

  9. Season with salt and pepper.

  10. Add peanut butter (if using peanut butter).

  11. Simmer until all flavors are incorporated.

Add vegetables and serve

  1. Add the vegetables.

  2. Make sure vegetables are well cooked and not soggy.

  3. Serve hot with bagoong with calamansi and chili pepper.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1029Calories
65 gProtein
44 gFat
98 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 14 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Peanut1 oz (28g)161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Banana1 medium (118g)105
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Nutsnot in our table0
Beannot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + eggplanttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together801 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + eggplanttop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
Becomes tender during simmering and adds rich meaty flavor to the stew.
Oxtail
Releases collagen into the stock, giving body and a silky mouthfeel.
Ground nuts or peanut butter
Thickens the sauce and gives it its nutty, creamy body.
Ground toasted rice
Adds thickening and a toasted, nutty aroma to the sauce.
Bagoong alamang
Contributes salty, savory depth that seasons the sauce.
Atsuete oil
Gives the sauce its characteristic orange-red color and mild aroma.

The step that matters

Make sure vegetables are well cooked and not soggy.. Vegetables are added to a simmering sauce and need enough time to soften fully; undercooked eggplant and beans taste raw and stringy, while overcooking turns them mushy and dulls their texture.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, garlic, onion, shrimp, rice, eggplant):

  1. Sesamefits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, garlic, onion, shrimp, rice, eggplant. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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