Pork Caldereta

Good morning lovelies! I am here with another family favorite that I would love to share with you. Caldereta, a dish much like our beloved adobo, is a Filipino staple for fiestas and other special occasions. I have seen different versions of this dish. Others have potatoes and carrots and I have even tried the authentic "calderetang Batangas" which uses goat meat and instead of pork and is not tomato based but soy sauce based. This is the version me and husband came up with and it is really a winner especially when we have guests over.

For this recipe, we will need:
1. Tomato ketchup/sauce
2. Cheese
3. Peanut butter
4. Pork bullion cubes
5. Pork
6. Chili powder and basil
7. Pickles, chopped
8. Liver spread
9. Butter or margarine

Start by bring water into a boil and then adding pork and bullion cubes. Cook until the pork is tender. I like using the "adobo" cut of pork because it has much more lean meat but I suggest your use the "sinigang" cut or the parts where it has more bones. The meat beside the bone is so much more tastier. Once the meat is cooked, drain water but save it for we will use this stock later.

While your meat is cooking, chop the onions. You can manually chop with a knife or put in a food processor to finely dice the onions. I love using lots of onions for this dish because it not only brings so much flavor but also acts a "thickener" for our sauce. Also, finely chop some garlic.

Next, in a pan, add butter then saute the onions and the garlic until the onion caramelizes.

Next, add in the pork. Coat the pork with the onions and garlic and let it turn brown for a bit.

You now need to place in the stock that we saved. Add just enough to cover half of the pork in stock. Cover the pan with lid and let it simmer.

Next, we will add in a tablespoon or two of peanut butter. Just adjust the measurements according to your taste. Like the onions, this will make your sauce thicker and creamier. Peanut butter may sound weird but trust me, it works. It also adds a bit of saltiness and sweetness to our caldereta.

Now, add in the liver spread. This will make our caldereta much more meatier. I also love adding just a tablespoon or two.

After mixing in the liver spread and the peanut butter, it is now time to add in some color and a bit of sourness to our sauce. We will need to now pour in some ketchup or tomato sauce to our caldereta. Just mix it in and let it simmer for a bit.

Once the tomato ketchup/sauce is cooked, you will notice that the sauce becomes darker orange. It is now time to add in some pickles. Do not add to much as the caldereta will become too sour. A teaspoon or so is enough for a fourth of a (1/4) kilo of pork.

Just mix in the pickles then put lots of finely diced or grated cheese on top. In my book, everything with cheese is super yummy so make sure to put lots of cheese into your caldereta.