Beef Caldereta (Or is it Kaldereta ?)
It really doesn't matter how you want to spell it, this is an iconic dish. A wonderful and slightly spicy Beef Stew.
I've eaten quite a few in my time and mostly been disappointed. As soon as people know how much I love it they insist to cook their mother's recipe for me.
I usually soon discover that the very cheapest meat has been used, not correctly cooked and ended up tough, stringy and still far far too fatty.
As with all stews, caldereta can be made using different meats, such as Lamb (my wife won't ever touch it), Pork, Chicken or even certain fish.
I once made a caldereta with shellfish/crab claws and a couple of lobsters (£5 from Lidl-frozen). Now that really was a treat, I can still remember it now.
Anyway here's the recipe that works for me:-
Ingredients:-
Meat (If you want beef use fresh shin beef cut into quite large chunks)
Potatos (quartered - I prefer Charlotte as they're so creamy and hold up well during cooking and stirring)
Carrots (large chunks)
1 med Red Pepper (seeded and sliced)
1 med Green Pepper (seeded and sliced)
1 med Orange or Yellow Pepper (seeded and sliced)
Peas (I prefer petits pois)
Soup stew thickner such as cornflour
3 cloves of garlic for the marinade (crushed and chopped)
3-5 cloves of garlic for the stew (finely chopped)
2 large onions
3 large tomatoes
Hot Chilli (to suit your own taste)
2-3 Bay leaves
Salt ( to taste)
Fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
Tomato sauce
Tomatoe puree (about 2 tablespoons)
Vinegar & Soy Sauce in equal parts (about 60ml each)
Stock (min 150 ml - beef chicken or vegetable depending on the meat you're cooking)
Preparation:-
Mix the cubed meat with vinegar, soy sauce and garlic in a large bowl. Marinate in the fridge for 4-8 hours.
Remove the meat from the marinade and set aside. Keep the marinade.
Cooking Method:-
Heat a small amount of rape seed oil in a large casserole dish and brown the meat all over. Remove the meat and set aside.
Add a little more oil to the pot if needed then sauté the garlic and onions until just soft. Then add the tomatoes, peppers and half of the chilli peppers.
Add the tomato sauce and tomato puree and simmer for 3-5 minutes just to cook down a little.
Add the meat, stock, bay leaves and the original marinade. Bring back to boil and simmer, covered, until the meat is tender.
Season with salt and pepper ( to taste)
Next add the potatoes and simmer until half cooked then add the carrotts and cook to your preference (I like my hot and still firm).
Then add the peas to just heat through, together with the remainder of the chilli peppers.
Allow the sauce to thicken by adding some cornflour (mixed in a little of the sauce)
Adjust seasonings (and chilli to taste) and serve hot with plain rice.
To be honest it's always going to be a bit difficult to be totally original with a stew of Meat, Spuds, Tomato and Carrots.
I Just added my special Japanese touch to lift the recipe to another level (no offence intended).
To make it even more Pinoy the vinegar should be pure Tuba vinegar
If you want to add even more of the special Pinoy flavour and you're cooking beef or pork, then try adding some Liver Spread (Reno or Purefood)
For a kilo of pork/beef, just 1 can will do and should be added at the end of cooking process. (for some reason it doesn't work well with lamb)
You could go the whole hog on originality and make your own liver paste yum!
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Originally Posted by joebloggs
my kitchen.. 
