Chef Leah Cohen’s kare-kare is the comfort food you need this fall

Photos screengrab from leahscohen/Instagram;Today.com

Scoot over adobo and lumpia, kare-kare is headlining this upcoming fall season and Pig & Khao chef and owner Lea Cohen has whipped up her version of the hearty Filipino beef stew.

Sure, you might still be over the moon with Filipino American History Month celebrations, but cooking this Filipino fare isn’t just down to the special annual event. With the colder months ahead, you are going to want to extend your Filipino heritage celebrations with a serving of warm kare-kare.

A former “Top Chef” contender, Cohen is a Fil-Am culinary whiz who loves experimenting with Filipino dishes. You’ve probably heard of (or tasted?) her Jollibee Chickenjoy version, but now we’re shining the spotlight on her kare-kare recipe featured on Today.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leah Cohen 🇺🇸🇵🇭 (@leahscohen)

Here are some of the tips we learned from Cohen’s kare-kare recipe.

Unleashing Leah Cohen’s kare-kare recipe magic

• Instead of the usual oxtail part, use a beef chuck seasoned with salt and black pepper
• Traditionally, the meat or oxtail would be boiled but you can pan-sear it in oil until golden brown
• Don’t forget to take out the liquid from the beef. Your stew would taste better using this.
• Shrimp paste, peanut butter, and vinegar are the stars for a flavorful stew.
• Annatto powder will give that vibrant color and thicken the sauce. And ditch the flour and use rice powder instead.
• Blanch your vegetables (bok choy and Japanese eggplant) before pan searing them.
• Your beef won’t be boiled in the sauce. Instead, the sauce will be drizzled on top of your cooked beef and pan-seared veggies.
• Steamed rice is the ultimate partner of Cohen’s kare-kare recipe.

For the full list of ingredients and step-by-step of this recipe, watch the full video here:

You may also like: Padma Lakshmi reveals adobo recipe that didn’t make it to ‘Taste the Nation’ Filipino episode

Meanwhile, you could also try Cohen’s skewered kare-kare at her restaurant Pig & Khao in Lower East Side, NYC. She also plans to do a dumpling version in the Guest Chef Series to be held in Loren Hotel in Austin, Texas.