This dish is native to the Philippines. It's an easy to follow recipe. For a newbie in the kitchen, the ingredients might be a little intimidating but don't be because I provided a set of instructions for you.
This dish is flavored with ground peanuts, which creates the savory peanut sauce. It is also served with shrimp paste on the side. The shrimp paste is necessary to add sufficient saltiness to the dish, however, shrimp paste is not for the faint of heart.
Ingredients
3 lbs. oxtail, cut into serving pieces
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, unsalted
1/4 cup dried banana blossom or flower
2 eggplants, sliced
1 bundle of string beans
1 bundle of bokchoy
8 cups water
1/2 cup annatto seeds(soak in 3/4 cup of water)
4 tbsp. olive or coconut oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbsp. beef bouillon powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the oxtail in the boiling water followed by half of the chopped onion and simmer for 2 hours or until tender. If using a pressure cooker, set it to 35 minutes. Strain the meat, set aside and reserve 4 cups stock
- Add the creamy peanut butter to the still warm reserved broth or stock and whisk to dissolve. Now, I do this process because I don't like clump of peanut butter in my dish.
- In a large saucepan, heat the oil and sauté minced garlic until golden brown. Add the remaining onion and sauté until translucent. Add the peanut sauce from step 2 and the coloring (annatto water from the annatto seed mixture) along with eggplants, string beans, bokchoy and banana flower and mix well. Add the meat; bring stew to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add 1 tablespoon of bouillon beef powder, salt and pepper to taste
- Serve with bowl of steamed rice and a small bowl of shrimp paste or fermented baby shrimp on the side
- Enjoy!
- Yields: 6 servings
Posted in Everything Filipino, Filipino Cuisine