Caldereta
A Filipino beef stew simmered for 2 hours in tomato sauce with chicken livers, peppers, olives and potatoes, finished with grated cheese.
Photograph credit: Caldereta beef by CNEcija12345 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
A caldereta that tastes thin or plain is almost always short on one thing: time. The beef needs a full two hours in the tomato sauce to turn tender, and the liver has to melt into the sauce so it thickens and deepens it. Time does the rest.
Brown the beef well in batches, because crowding the pot makes it grey and stewy. Soften onion and garlic in the same fat, add tomato sauce, stock and bay leaf, and return the beef. Simmer gently with the lid on. A steady, low bubble keeps the meat from drying and lets the sauce reduce slowly.
Add the potatoes and carrots for the last thirty minutes so they stay in chunks. Stir in the red pepper, olives and a handful of grated cheese at the end; the cheese enriches the sauce and rounds off the sharpness of the tomato. A dash of chilli gives the dish its warm edge. Serve with plenty of rice.
The Method for Caldereta
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Brown the beef in the oil in 2 batches for 8 minutes in total. Lift out.
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Soften the onion and garlic in the pot for 5 minutes, then add the livers and mash them into the onion for 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, stock and bay leaves and return the beef.
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Cover and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the beef is almost tender.
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Add the potatoes and carrots and cook for 25 minutes until tender.
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Add the pepper, olives, cheese and chilli and cook for 5 minutes. Serve with rice.
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Tips That Matter
- Brown the beef in batches for a deeper sauce.
- Mash the livers well so they melt into the sauce.
- Add the vegetables late so they hold their shape.
Changing the Recipe
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Serve It With
Steamed rice · Fried plantains · Green salad · Pickled papaya
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Ginisang Munggo, Sinangag.
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Freeze for 3 months.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published .
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