Cooking Filipino Food: Caldereta

Filipino food is mostly entrees that are paired with rice. Filipinos are rice people as it is one of their top produce. Well, I have tasted quite a number of Filipino dishes as I have gathered a number of Filipino recipes. What I noticed about them is that they are all so easy to prepare. If you read Filipino recipes, you will see that there isn’t any elaborate cooking involved there. However, the food is guaranteed to be really tasty. This is why many people from all over the world get curious with how to cook and prepare Filipino food. This is why I decided to share some Filipino recipes to you.

I would want to share with you the recipe of one of the most loved Filipino dishes, Caldereta. Caldereta is a goat stew, but some people opt to use pork. It’s alright. The thing is that being able to choose the main ingredient is one of the reasons why there are so many versions of this recipe. Caldereta got its name from the Spanish word “Caldera” which means cauldron – mainly because this dish is cooked in a cauldron. But why does it have to be a Spanish word? Well, Caldereta is an adaptation of the Spanish dish of the same name. You see, the Spanish colonized the Philippines for 300 years. This recipe, among other Filipino recipes, are some of the things that Filipinos acquired from the Spanish – a very good one indeed.

So now that you know a lot about Caldereta, I think it’s time for us to cook this awesome dish!

For the ingredients, here are the things that you have to prepare. First, get your pork or goat. Prepare half a kilo and cut them into cubes. Then, get 3 pieces each of potatoes and carrots plus 2 pieces of green bell pepper. Again, cut these into cubes.  Mince 4 cloves of garlic and chop 1 medium onion. Now prepare 1 cup of coconut milk, 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, ¼ teaspoon of black ground pepper, 1 cup water, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Now that you have prepared the ingredients, it’s time to cook!

First, sauté garlic and onion until brown. If you have read many Filipino recipes, you will notice that most of them begin by sautéing their food. Then, you can add the pork (choose to use pork belly if it’s possible). Stir fry until pork or goat meat until it gets cooked and turns golden brown. Now you can get your soy sauce, salt, green bell pepper, and your ground pepper and mix them together. If you notice that the ingredients are already spread evenly on the dish, then you can take the next step. Add the tomato sauce, stir a little, then add the water. Mix this very well and let simmer for around 15 minutes.  As soon as the dish has done simmering, add your carrots, potatoes, brown sugar, bell peppers,  and coconut milk. Now, it’s ready to eat!

Caldereta is really tasty. The  tomato based goat or pork stew is most commonly seen being offered at Filipino buffets everywhere in the Philippines because, well, in the first place it really looks great This being said, more and more people from all over the world are interested in this recipe. This is why I am giving it to you. Filipino recipes are straightforward. Most of these Filipino recipes begin with sautéing the garlic and onion, too. The point is that Filipino food can be cooked by anyone. Once you have learned the basics of cooking Filipino dishes, you can easily and quickly whip up your Caldereta and serve it to your friends and family. I bet they will enjoy their Caldereta. Plus, you can be sure that you will get full easily.