Vegan Kare Kare

For a bit of a change today, we are pulling out recipes from the Philippines. I'm recreating a traditional dish and making a delicious super hearty Vegan Kare Kare loaded with veggies and a ton of flavour. 

I love trying food from different countries and different cultures. Some cuisines are more vegan friendly than others, which makes it easy for us. There are some that are incredibly easy to veganaise some others not so much. 

I've found in my experience that Filipino cuisine is really hard to crack. They are not known for their cuisine and most of their food is very heavy on meat, fried food, and sugar. I could say is not the healthiest either, so I've always found it a bit challenging to dive into. 

I did find some interesting dishes I thought are worth veganising. The one we are making today is a meat free Kare Kare by replacing a few bits and pieces. The flavour still comes out super rich and it is a great healthy stew. 

Kare Kare is a classic Filipino slow-cook stew. The original recipe asks for meat simmered for hours until is tender. Then you add a bunch of veggies and spices and leave the whole mix to simmer for a while until you get the thicker, stew-like consistency. 

Nowadays, to get the thickness right in less time, a lot of recipes include peanut butter and flour rice. For this recipe we are meeting in the middle, let's say. We are leaving the stew simmering but I did add a bit of chunky peanut butter to save myself some time and better manage the consistency of this heartwarming stew. 

I found that to get vegan Filipino recipes right sometimes we do need to recur to processed alternatives. I rarely use fake meats but since this cuisine is so heavy on meat, I thought I used a bit for this recipe. So, we are using Beyond meat for our delicious vegan Kare Kare. It is the easiest way to recreate the taste and feel of the traditional recipe.

The cooking process is so easy so this recipe is for experts and beginners as well. We only need to saute onion and garlic until fragrant. Then we add the protein and stir it for about 5 minutes. From where on, all we have to do is let things simmer. 

I like adding the water first and then the peanut butter so I allow it to properly dissolve, then add the veggies that take a bit longer to cook, the green beans and eggplant. We leave this cooking for about 10 - 15 minutes.  Your queue will be the eggplant, we don't want to overcook it or it will get chewy and rubbery. 

Once this is cooked just add the bok choy, the spices and the maple syrup and give it a good stir. And you are all done! Serve this beauty while is still warm and steamy and enjoy the heartwarming Filipino stew you just created!