(Pinoy Recipe) Beef Caldereta

When it comes to preparing food for fiesta or special Sunday family get-together meal, the Pinoy Recipe Beef Caldereta is always included on the list of food to be cooked. But did you know you can also include and cook the pinoy recipe beef caldereta to your everyday meal?

I have seen a lot of versions of beef caldereta on the internet done by different people, including chefs, but this beef caldereta that I will present to you is a well-kept family secret (hahaha!) cooking procedure. It may be a lot more different from the other recipes out there for this beef caldereta recipe includes coconut milk (gata) and also cooked with potatoes with the skin still on it. Can't imagine that huh? Well, here's my version of the pinoy recipe beef caldereta.



Ingredients:

1 kilo beef, sliced into small cubes or strips
1 piece laurel leaf (teared into small pieces)
3-4 pieces calamansi
2-3 shot glasses of soy sauce
1 large potato (washed thoroughly, removing the eyes and soil; cut into cubes or about the size of the beef slices; do not peel the skin)
1 medium-sized red bell pepper, chopped into strips
1 medium-sized green bell pepper (optional, for added color of food)
1 large carrot carrot (cut into cubes or about the size of the beef slices)
1 medium-sized onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 small pack tomato paste
4-5 pieces red hot chili (siling labuyo)
1/2 cup pure and fresh coconut milk (gata)
1/4 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup of water
cooking oil
salt and pepper
sugar


Procedure:

1) Put one kilo of beef, soy sauce, laurel leaf, calamansi, a pinch of salt, and a dash of pepper into a big bowl. Mix these ingredients together for even marination. Set aside.

2) Pour in a little amount of cooking oil in a casserole. Fried the potatoes (with skin on it) until slightly brown. Put in the carrots, then the bell pepper. When all of the three vegetables are cook, remove from frying and set aside.

3) Saute garlic and onion in cooking oil until the onion becomes slight transparent. Then, put the beef only into the casserole. Do not put the marinade, yet. Cover the casserole and wait until the juice of the beef slices comes out. When the beef juice comes out, put in the tomato paste. Mix the tomato paste and simmer for another minute. When the beef boils, pour in the marinade. Boil for another minute. When it boils, pour in one-half cup of water.

4) Bring the beef to a boil until it becomes tender. Usually it would take one and half hour to soften the beef under low fire. If the water is somehow thick and the beef is still not soft or tender, pour in a little more amount of water and bring it to boil again. Make sure to boil the beef on high fire first and turn the fire to low settings as it slowly cooks the beef. When the beef softens, natural beef oil comes out. You may want to remove this oil if you want to if you are health conscious and to keep you from having beef oil stains or sebo.

5) When you think the beef is almost soft, put in the potatoes, carrots, and bell pepper into the casserole for them to cook. Put the grated cheese and the fresh coconut milk. Bring everything to a boil until the vegetables softens or until thick sauce forms.

6) Seasoned with sugar, salt, and pepper according to your taste. If you find the sauce to salty, put a little bit more of sugar. Cut the red hot chili (siling labuyo) into smaller pieces and put it when you are about ten minutes away from turning off the fire to prevent too much spicy-ness of the dish. For added flavor and aroma, I sprinkled a pinch of dried rosemary. Serve immediately or top it on steaming rice. Makes 8-10 servings. Enjoy eating!