Caldereta is a tomato based stew that plays homage to our Spanish routes as The Philippines was colonized by Spain from 1565 to 1898. Youl will however see from the ingredients in this dish that Caldereta also draws to our other influences from our Chinese settlers.

This recipe is Vegan as I was not eating meat in January and wanted to recreate this comforting dish without the meat. You will typically find Caldereta across The Philippines with different meat from beef, pork to even goat.

I have very fond memories of eating this when I was younger at my Tita Sarah’s place in Bataan. She had a small Tindahan (shop) where she would sometimes sell home cooked meals to eat in or take away. A bit pot of rice would be cooked and she would ask me the most important question in all Filipino conversations “Kumain ka na?” ..”Have you eaten?” to which I always said “no” when I had probably already eaten because I was 1. greedy and 2. loved her food.

I used Vegan Vietnamese mock meat tips in this recipe as I had it in to use and I wanted that texture. You can easily omit the mock meat or change to a different kind for this dish. I reckon other brands like Quorn etc would work just as well and will be easier for you to access.

Perfect for a cold day and just gets better with age so keeps very well too.

Recipe feeds 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

30g Vegan Beef Tips rehydrated in water (or use different mock meat) chopped up

4x Potatoes diced

1x Onion diced

4 x Garlic cloves diced

2 x Carrots diced

1 x Red Pepper diced

1/2 Yellow Pepper diced

1 x Tin plum tomatoes

2 x Bay leaves ( I always use fresh but dried is also good!)

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

2 tbsp Vegan Fish sauce (or use Fish sauce)

2 tbsp Tomato Puree

2 x Chillies diced

100g Frozen green peas

1 Lemon

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. Before you start anything, just make sure everything is diced evenly and in similar size. This dish all about mouth feel and ensures everything cooks at the same time.
2. In a pan with some oil, sweat off your onions, garlic, chillies and carrots. Once they have been cooking and got colour, add your potatoes in.
3. Stir fry everything together till well mixed and sauté for the veg to all get a good colour on them. Add the peppers and mock meat in.
4. Add your tomato puree, tin of tomato and bay leaves. Rinse the tin of tomatoes with water and add that water into the pot so not to waste any of it.
5. Add your sugar, vegan fish sauce, soy sauce and some pepper. Give everything a good stir and now it’s all about reducing this so it becomes thick and delicious. Keep stirring every so often and whilst this is on, this can be your opportunity to get your rice on.
6. This process will take about 40-1 hour to reduce. If you feel it is too dry, top with a bit of a water and keep stirring once the potatoes are cooked. Once they are done, add the peas in that will cook in the residual heat.

Dish up your Caldereta once it’s finished with a squeeze of lemon and serve over rice. Feel free to add any fresh garnishes but I really just enjoyed this with rice and nothing else. If you wish to use meat, follow this recipe but add the meat at the start of the cooking process when you do the onions and garlic etc. Also just be mindful that cooking time will vary/take longer if meat is used! Enjoy x

Vegan Filipino Caldereta