WHEN LECHON MARRIES WITH BINAGOONGAN AND KARE KARE

 

Binagoongan, Lechon, and Kare Kare are three iconic dishes that are quintessentially  Filipino or Pinoy.

So I created a dish that brings all three together and I called it BINAGOONGANG LECHON BILOG WITH KARE KARE SAUCE. 

Why?

Kare Kare is always paired with bagoong or shrimp paste. Binagoongan is cooked using pork belly or liempo and can be served crispy (ie Lechon)  or tender. While one can opt to have pork belly or liempo in place of oxtail and tripe in Kare Kare. Thus while each dish can stand alone, its a unique dish that brings all 3 together and make an explosion in your mouth that is quite memorable.

Let me explain some more via the classic Kare Kare & Binagoongan I cooked a few months ago which I posted in my IG below...

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My made-with-love Oxtail & Tripe Kare Kare 😜😋😋❤️ * Thank you for the feature @whattoeatph ❤️ * KareKare is a much-loved ulam found in any #Pinoy table all over the world. It is stew with oxtail or tripe swimming in thick peanut sauce and paired with bagoong or shrimp paste. * Nowadays, you can actually make an easy and convenient version by using Kare Kare mix . But I wanted to do it from scratch 😊 * The achuete accounts for its vibrant fire engine red hue. The flavor is actually subtle letting the peanut flavor shine thru. * Got my recipe from my late mother-in-law and my loving mom who belonged to a generation who made everything from their kitchen. Mga purists 😍 * Here’s the recipe... * Kare-Kare Peanut Sauce 1. Toast a tablespoon of rice in a pan (without oil) until lightly brown 2. Deposit in a blender or food processor to grind to powder. 3. Add coconut milk and ground peanut or peanut butter 4. Pulse until well blended 5. Transfer to a big sauce pan. 6. For that red Kare Kare color - sauté 2 T of achuete in oil till it turns scarlet. Turn off the fire and let the achuete or anatto seeds steep in oil for 2 minutes. 7. Pour the red peanut-rice-coconut mixture with a strainer over the tripe & oxtail broth * Tripe & Oxtail 1. Boil until tender. Throw out water 3x to remove the smell. 2. Add ginger for the final boil to take away the lands. Set aside * Veggies 1. Prepare and slice pechay, puso ng saging and eggplants 2. Blanche in boiling water for a few seconds * Presentation 1. Assemble the oxtail, tripe, sauce and veggies in a bowl. 2. Spoon some bagoong or shrimp paste in a ramekin 3. Serve with plain rice 4. Enjoy 😋😋😋 * * #piggingoutonsundaysrecipe #piggingoutonsundays #lutongbahay #homecooking #wimyummy #pinoyfood #filipinofood #pagkaingpinoy #wheninmanila #whattoeatph #dmfoodseries #ulamideas #welovetocook #eatpilipinas #pagkaingpinoy #welovetoeatph #piggingoutonsundaysrecipe #panlasangpinoy #filipinofoodmovement #trylocalph #yummyph #pinoy

A post shared by Momlife|Food|Travel🇵🇭 (@piggingoutonsundays) on Jun 27, 2020 at 5:09pm PDT

KARE KARE with Gata or Coconut Cream. The Classic Pinoy Kare Kare is a  vibrantly scarlet-hued peanut stew that is delicately and subtly flavored balanced only by the rich boldness of the bagoong or shrimp paste. The traditional  Kare Kare I grew up with has tripe and oxtail for protein which are simmered for hours to make it fork tender and almost melt in your mouth. Nowadays almost all protein from pork to chicken and seafood are made into this dish. The vegetables ie pechay, puso ng saging or banana heart, eggplant, sitaw, or string beans are there to provide contrast in color and texture.   

Some would say that during my mom's and ma-in-law's era, Kare Kare is one of those dishes that is quite intimidating to take on simply because everything is made from scratch. There were no instant mix nor pressure cooker to make cooking a snap. Each dish created is a labor of love, sweat, and tears literally.

Here is the recipe which by the way I made from scratch too... :)

KARE KARE SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients

pork broth

1/4 cup   rice grains 

3/4  cup ground peanut

400 ml of coconut cream

1 tablespoon of Bagoong (shrimp paste)

two tablespoon achuete

Here's a brief video of the procedure I made for the classic Kare Kare to give you an idea :)

Procedure

1. Saute achuete in oil until its color lends itself to the oil. 

Turn off the heat and let the achuete seeds steep in the oil for a few minutes until

the oil becomes a rich dark scarlet hue. Set aside.

2. In another pan, roast the rice in a hot pan until it turns light  brown. Set aside.

3. In a blender, grind the rice until it is pulverized into powder

4. Add the peanut and grind it too. Pour the coconut cream and pulse until

everything is incorporated.  The mixture looks light brown and thick and smelled wonderfully of coconut. Set aside.

5. In a pot  with a cup of  pork broth, pour the peanut-cream sauce using a  sieve or strainer.

6. Again using a strainer. add the achuete oil to the broth until everything turns orange-red.

7. Add 1 tablespoon of bagoong or shrimp paste.

8. The resulting flavor of the sauce should be a study in subtlety with peanut the dominant flavor balanced by the creamy sweetness of the coconut cream, the roasted essence of the rice rounded up by the hint of saltiness from bagoong or shrimp paste. One can use fish sauce too but I prefer bagoong :)

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Good morning! Day 28 of #quarantine . * It’s 850 am and it’s bright & sunny at 30C in my little corner on the planet🌼😍 * Have left over binagoongan (pork in shrimp paste, vinegar,garlic) * Can use as sahog/garnish for gulay/veggies or reinvent as another ulam /dish😜😋😋😋 * I just added @cocomamaph coconut cream , ginger & red sili. Sayang wala na ako sigarilyas, pechay or any green veggies. Just added spring onions for color simply because ang dami Kong spring onion 🤣 * Oh well , pumasa naman. They thought it was a new ulam last night haha 😜🤣😋❤️ * #lutongbahay #homecooking #wimyummy #pinoyfood #filipinofood #pagkaingpinoy #wheninmanila #whattoeatph #dmfoodseries #ulamideas #welovetocook #eatpilipinas #pagkaingpinoy #panlasangpinoy #filipinofoodmovement #trylocalph #yummyph #pinoy #welovetoeatph #piggingoutonsundaysrecipe #piggingoutonsundays #forkspoonmanila

A post shared by Momlife|Food|Travel🇵🇭 (@piggingoutonsundays) on Apr 10, 2020 at 5:52pm PDT

BINAGOONGAN. Bagoong is made from crushed shrimps fermented in salt in earthen jars for several weeks. Nobody knows who invented it and where it originated from but one can surmise that it was invented to preserve fish and shrimps. Today bagoong is more than a dip or a condiment.  In fact, it is an important ingredient that can make a dish quite interesting.

A case in point is the much-loved Pinoy dish The Pork Binagoongan. The Classic Pork Binagoongan uses vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, shrimp paste, or bagoong as its ingredients. One just stews the pork usually pork belly, in vinegar and garlic in low heat until pork becomes tender. Then just incorporate the bagoong or shrimp paste and add fish sauce to taste.

Variations include the addition of soy sauce or achuete/annatto oil for color. Others incorporate coconut creams to add a level of creaminess and richness to the dish.

BINAGOONGANG LECHON  BILOG.Today, I tweaked my mom's Classic Binagoongan by cooking my own version of the dish. I used a slab of pork belly with skin on in place of liempo/pork belly cubes which is the traditional protein for this dish. 

I scoured the flesh of the pork belly just enough to let the  sauteed bagoong and other spices in. I used bottled bagoong and sauteed it with garlic, onion and tomato. 

I also punctured the skin and rubbed salt and pepper all over it. Then I rolled it like a log and tied it with twine tightly. This is my raw LECHON BILOG ( round Lechon-to -be). Think Porchetta with Binagoongan stuffing.

Place the tightly twined Lechon Bilog in an open Tupperware and let cool in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day massage  an additional salt & pepper all over the skin and skewer with the rotisserie rod of your oven.

Set the temperature to 200C and turn on the rotisserie. Cooking time is 2 hours or until the skin looks reddish and crunchy. Make sure to have a pan directly under to catch all the drippings.

BINAGOONGAN LECHON BILOG

Ingredients

1.2 Kilo of liempo

Calamansi

1 head of garlic

1 bunch of spring onion

tomatoes

onion

Salt & pepper to taste

Twine

Procedure:

1. Saute the bottled bagoong or Shrimp paste in garlic, onion, and tomatoes.

2. Lay the pork belly or liempo on the chopping board.

3. Scour the inner flesh to form diamond shapes

4. Squeeze some lemon on the skin and massage the juice on the scoured meat.

5. Slather the scoured flesh with sauteed bagoong. Make sure you rub it in all

the crevices of the pork belly.

6. Add minced garlic all over.

7. Add a bunch of spring onion

8. Roll the pork belly into a log so that its skin touches from end to end.

9. Use twine to secure its shape.

10. Scour the skin or punch some holes on it.

11. Rub salt and pepper generously

12. Put the pork belly overnight in the fridge uncovered to dry it. 

13. The next day skewers the Lechon Bilog ( pork belly log) using the rotisserie rod. 

14. Cook it in the rotisserie for 2 hours or until the skin is golden and crunchy. 

15. Your Binagoongang Lechon Bilog is ready.

BINAGOONGANG LECHON BILOG WITH KARE KARE SAUCE.  There were 3 components to the dish - a) The Kare Kare Sauce b) The Binagoongan and c) The Crunchy Lechon Bilog which we already accomplished above.

So all we have to do is assemble them together. The star of the dish is, of course, the pork belly which was transformed into a crunchy Lechon Bilog  ( roasted rolled pork belly ...think porchetta) stuffed with binagoongan. We then position the blanched vegetables around the scrumptious protein with the red-orange Kare Kare Sauce on the side and a small ramekin of bagoong to complete the whole ensemble.

ASSEMBLY

1. Put the Kare Kare Sauce in a bowl.

2. Assemble the Binagoongang Lechon Bilog in a wooden chopping board.

3. Arrange the blanched pechay, sitaw, puso ng saging on the side.

4. Add a ramekin of extra bagoong or shrimp paste on the side

5. Serve while hot.

HOW TO EAT IT

In one mouthful...

1. Get chunks of crunchy Lechon

2. Pour the reddish-orange creamy-peanut(y)  Kare Kare sauce all over it.

3. Add a pechay, puso ng saging and sitaw

4. Get a pinch of bagoong and a tablespoon of rice.

5. Deposit everything in your mouth.

6. Enjoy the sensation of crunchy from the Lechon crackling vs. silky from the kare kare sauce, salty from the bagoong vs. sweet from the coconut cream, 

subtlety from the peanut vs. bold flavors from the pork binagoongan.

6. You can eat with your hands ie "kamayan" as an option :)

Enjoy!