Growing up, my mom would make an array of different Filipino dishes. I used to devour her sizzling pork sisig, savory chicken adobo, and fresh pinakbet using vegetables from our garden in the summer. However, one dish I find myself missing the most is Caldereta: a version of Filipino beef stew. It’s not particularly hard to make, but amidst third-year rotations, I don’t love spending hours on hours of my free time in kitchen, and I’m sure most of you don’t either. Allow me to book you a round trip ticket to the Philippines without the 13-hour flight and impress your friends at your next potluck. Or, if you’re like me, and you’re missing home and hours from the nearest Filipino restaurant, make something that will send you back to your childhood like Anton Ego, the food critic in Ratatouille.
This is also my recipe, so adjust as you please. The final flavor should be a combination of savory/sweet heat with a rich tomato-based sauce. The peanut butter adds some thickness to the sauce and a whole dimension of flavor. This is a great recipe to make on a busy study day at home, and use those study breaks to make something magical. I hope you like this!
My Version of Filipino Caldereta
- 1.5-2 pounds of cubed beef
- 1-2 red bell peppers (diced)
- 1 pack of mini golden potatoes (halved)
- 1 pack of frozen peas/carrots
- 1 can of tomato Sauce (unsalted)
- 2 cups of beef broth
- ½ cup of creamy peanut butter (can omit and use liver paste, which is more traditional)
- ½-1 cup of sriracha sauce (more to taste)
- ½-1 cup of ketchup (more to taste)
- garlic powder/salt/pepper to tase
- diced onion/minced garlic (optional)
- 3 bay leaves (pptional)
Cooking Instructions
- In a saucepan, sear your beef cubes. You can add diced onion and diced fresh garlic if you like to add flavor to the beef.
- Remove the beef from the pan and add it to your slow cooker. After halving the mini gold potatoes, add to the slow cooker as well. Pour in the unsalted tomato sauce and beef broth, adding extra liquid if needed to fully submerge the meat and potatoes. Pro tip: if watching your salt use low-sodium beef broth. Add garlic powder if you don’t use fresh onion and garlic, and then add salt. Add your ½ cup of ketchup, sriracha, stir until incorporated, add bay leaves, then leave alone for 3 hours. Cook on low. Now go do that Anki or them practice questions. <3
- During your study break, check back in on the sauce. I like to add the ½ cup of peanut butter at this point. Then add your diced red bell peppers and your frozen peas and carrots. Add another ketchup and sriracha drizzle, as spicy and as rich as you want the sauce to be. Stir everything up until it’s all incorporated in the sauce. Leave alone again on high for an hour this time.
- Check back in on that sauce. Taste it. Is it masarap (delicious)? Again, the flavor should be a balanced mixture of sweetness from the tomato, savory from the beef, and heat from the sriracha or chili. Don’t be afraid to add more salt to your taste at this point. If it needs more richness, add some more ketchup and sriracha. Leave it alone on low for another hour if you want your potatoes and beef more tender.
In total, this should be about 5 hours of cooking time, but longer if you want things to be on low. You can easily get through a lot of studying and then reward yourself with a delicious meal. Yes, you could make this on the stove and it be done a lot faster, but, slow cooking adds a tenderness to that beef, and something about the low maintenance while cooking makes this recipe ideal for me. Make sure you serve with fresh, hot white rice. I hope you like it! Kain na! (Let’s Eat!)
