Veggie Kare Kare

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp anchuete powder

1/4 cup hot water (for the anchuete powder)

1 medium Chinese eggplant

1 bunch of long beans

5 pechay tagalog or bok choy, bottoms cut off and leaves separated

2 tbsp neutral oil

1 small onion (peeled and diced)

4 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)

1/4 cup crushed peanuts

1/2 cup smooth and creamy peanut butter (+ 1/2 tbsp or more! (Fresh or store-bought)

1 cup chicken broth (OR water and then add in 1 vegetable bouillion/cube)

1/2 to 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

2 tbsp fish sauce (and to taste, once done)

Additional 1/2 to 1 cup vegetable broth or water (to thin out)

Additional peanut butter (to thicken if needed)

Topping:

bagoong

Directions

In a small bowl, mix the achuete powder and water. Set aside

Slice the vegetables. I sliced my long beans into 2” long pieces. For the eggplants, I sliced them diagonally into half before slicing into 2" pieces also. For the pechay/bok choy, I simply chopped the ends off and separated the leaves after rinsing.

Heat a large pan or wok over medium-high. Add 1 tbsp oil. Sauté the eggplant until slightly tender, around 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Repeat this for the long beans and add a splash of water to half cook, as needed. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Lastly, quickly sauté the bok choy/pechay as well for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. I like to cook my vegetables for a few minutes so they can release some of the liquid and won’t make my kare-kare too watery later on.

In the same plan, add the remaining oil. Once hot, sauté the garlic and onion for 2 minutes until tender and aromatic.

Move the onion and garlic to the side of the pan and then add in the crushed peanuts. Lightly toast the peanuts over medium high heat for around 4 minutes, moving around every minute or so.

Add in the peanut butter and mix well with the crushed peanuts.

Pour in the chicken broth or water with a chicken cube. Leave to simmer over medium high heat, mixing constantly, until the peanut butter dissolves.

Leave to cook until the sauce thickens and mix every 2-3 minutes to make sure the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Pour in the anchuete mixture into the stew. Give it a good mix.

Add in the sauté vegetables. Mix well to incorporate in the sauce. Season with salt and sugar, to taste, as desired.

Add in more water or broth to thin out the sauce if you'd like. Season with more salt/sugar to taste if needed. Feel free to add more peanut butter, if you'd like it creamier/nuttier! If you need to thicken, add a little toasted rice powder or cornstarch mixed with water into the sauce.

Once the vegetables are cooked through, turn off the heat.

Nutrition

• Calories: 300 kcal
• Total Fat: 16 g
• Saturated Fat: 3 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 13 g
• Trans Fat: 1 g
• Sodium: 459 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 34 g
• Dietary Fiber: 11 g
• Total Sugars: 18 g
• Protein: 11 g