Filipino kare-kare has so much more meaning than the peanut butter oxtail dish it is. At age 16, it was the meal I regularly cooked for my family when my parents were at work. It is my firstborn’s favorite Filipino dish and that’s asking a lot from a picky eater. It was the first meal I christened my beloved Instant Pot with almost two years ago.
It is only right that I write this recipe as I celebrate the fact that four of my Instant Pot recipes reaching No. 1 SEO on Google.com. That means when you google “instant pot sinigang” or “instant pot tinola,” my blog recipes show up at top of the search. And that says a lot to me because when I first got my Instant Pot two years ago, there were no Filipino Instant Pot dishes that pinged back. So you know what they say: if you can’t find it, create it.
So here I am. I converted my nostalgic kare-kare recipe into an Instant Pot recipe and kept it tucked tight in my blog drafts until now. Instead of the 3-hour cooking endeavor, it’s made in half that time – and still falls off the bone with love.
Ka-in na! (“Eat now” in Tagalog.)
Instant Pot Kare-Kare
Filipino dish made of tender oxtail, peanut butter sauce, long beans, and bok choy.
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbs. beef oxtail
- 2 lbs. beef neck bone
- 8 cups water
- 4 blocks beef bouillon
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 1 package long beans
- 1 package baby bok choy
- 2 tsp. shrimp paste aka Bagoong
To Prepare Soup
- 1-1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 packs Mama Cita kare-kare mix
- 1 cup hot water
Instructions
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Turn on Instant Pot to SAUTE and heat up oil.
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Brown meat in batches and remove from heat.
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Brown onions. Add a little bit of oil.
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Deglaze bottom of pot by adding a little of the water; about a cup or two. Using a wooden spoon, scrape bottom of pot lifting off the good bits.
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Return browned meat to the pot and add rest of the water. Add bouillon cubes. Water should just barely cover the meat.
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Close lid and vent to SEAL. Set Instant to MEAT/STEW 30 minutes. Once done, let pot natural pressure release (NPR) for 20 minutes and then, turn knob to quick release (QR). As it NPR’s the pot display will say “L-number”. For example, if it says “L10,” that means 10 mins have lapsed.
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While meat is cooking, wash and prepare the long beans and bok choy. Blanch veggies in hot water to cook them.
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Prepare the peanut butter soup mixture. In a heat-resistant mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, hot water, and Mama Cita packages. It will still be semi-solid (but don’t worry because it will dilute soon.)
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After you NPR the vent, open lid and remove excess fat using a fat skimming ladle. Also, remove 3 cups of the water from the Instant Pot. Turn pot off.
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Mix in prepared peanut butter soup mixture in the pot. Thicken with more peanut butter if necessary.
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Add 2 tsp. shrimp paste to the pot and mix.
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Add cooked veggies to the pot and meal is done. Serve over fresh Jasmine rice.
Recipe Notes
- I remove excess cooking water after the meat is done so that the peanut butter soup mix won’t need a lot to thicken.
- Blanching the veggies in hot water separately helps to avoid the peanut butter soup mix from burning the bottom of the pot. I’ve tried to cook the veggies in the pot before and the bottom burned a little.
- As sauce thickens, the chance of burning the bottom increases.
I miss kare-kare so much. My oldest has peanut allergies. I wonder if sunflower butter can be substituted instead.
If you try sunflower butter please let me know! That sounds amazing too!