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Bagnet (crispy pork belly) kare-kare

Bagnet (crispy pork belly) kare-kare

Print Recipe
If bagnet is unavailable, lechon kawali (see our air fried version) may be substituted.
Updated from a recipe originally published in August 16, 2018.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Modern Filipino
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Connie Veneracion

Ingredients

To tint and thicken the sauce

  • 4 to 6 cups bone broth (it can be pork, beef or chicken)
  • ¼ cup annatto seeds
  • ¼ cup rice flour (NOT glutinous rice flour!)

Vegetables

  • 1 small white cabbage cut into wedges
  • 2 large eggplants (preferably the long Asian variety), cut into ¾-inch sliced
  • 1 bunch sitaw (yard-long beans) cut into 2-inch lengths

Bagnet

  • 1 kilogram cooked bagnet or use lechon kawali
  • cooking oil for deep frying (omit if using home cooked lechon kawali)

Peanut sauce

  • ¼ cup smooth peanut butter (we use sweetened)
  • fish sauce

Instructions

Start making the kare-kare sauce

  • Heat the beef broth in a large pan until boiling.
  • Place the annatto seeds in a heat-proof bowl, ladle in a cup of hot broth and leave to steep.
  • Toast the rice flour in a frying pan until nutty in aroma and just starting to turn a light brown.

Cook the vegetables

  • Into the boiling broth, drop in the cabbage wedges and cook for about ten minutes. Scoop out and transfer to a bowl. Cool.
  • Add the cut sitaw to the broth. Cook for ten minutes, scoop out and transfer to the bowl with the cabbage.
  • Cook the eggplant slices in the broth for five minutes (do not overcook!), scoop out and add to the bowl with the sitaw and cabbage.

Make the peanut sauce

  • Transfer the rice flour to a bowl.
  • Strain the annatto water, add to the rice flour and mix to make a paste.
  • Take half a cup of hot broth, pour into another heat-proof bowl and stir in the peanut butter until fully incorporated.
  • Stir the rice flour-annatto paste into the peanut butter until blended.
  • Pour the mixture into a pan set over medium heat.
  • Ladle in the hot broth, half a cup at a time, while stirring constantly. How much broth you need to add depends on how thick you want your sauce. Stop adding broth when you have reached the consistency that you prefer.
  • Bring the sauce to a simmer.
  • Taste the sauce and add enough fish sauce to create a good balance of flavors.

Reheat the bagnet

  • Heat enough cooking oil in a frying pan to reach a depth of at least three inches.
  • Reheat the bagnet in hot oil until ultra crispy (skip if using newly cooked lechon kawali).

Assemble the bagnet kare-kare

  • Cut the bagnet into portions and arrange in a bowl surrounded by the cooked cabbage, eggplant and sitaw.
  • Ladle in the peanut sauce.