Pochero (Beef Stew)

This is more like the American Mulligan stew except for the Asian vegetables in it. It is a stew instead of a soup because it does not have a lot of broth in it.

It is the combination of the flavors from the sweet potato, plantain and the greens, melded with the olive oil and a few drops of patis with calamansi (or lemon) that makes this dish delightful.

1 to 1 1/2 LB. beef shank with bones or beef short ribs with bones
2 bay leaves
salt
peppercorn
1 sweet potato, cut 2″ squares
1 or 2 very ripe plantain or the cooking banana (saba)
1 bunch of Bok Choy, cut crosswise about 4 in. long (Baby Bok choy is preferable) or Chinese cabbage
4 green onion (Scallions) cut in half or thirds.
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4 c chopped onion
1/2 green bell pepper cut 1/2″ squares (optional)
2 med. sized tomatoes chopped
1/4 cabbage cut in large squares
1 stalk celery cut 2″ long (optional)
a few green beans cut 2″ long (optional)
2 carrots cut 2″ long
2 large whole Japanese eggplants or 1 small regular eggplant cut in quarters (See Eggplant salad)

The most important vegetables in this dish are the sweet potatoes, plantain and bok choy or cabbage and the aromatics such as garlic and onions. You can also do without the tomatoes but better with it. The rest are mix and match and what you have available. Asparagus would also be good cooked in it.

Simmer the meat in enough water to cover the meat with the bay leaves and 2 tsps. salt for about 2 to 3 hours or until tender. A pressure cooker is a fast way to tenderize the meat and a slow cooker will take about 8 hours.

When the meat is tender, remove from heat and allow it to cool to handle the meat. Remove from the bones and cut in serving pieces if too big. Discard the bones, peppercorn and bay leaves and reserve the stock.

If Eggplant Salad is on the menu, boil the eggplants while boiling the meat (not in the pressure cooker) but check for doneness and remove from the pot to a bowl. You can boil the eggplants in the stock after you discarded the bones, etc., until tender. Remove from the broth and transfer to a dish. Proceed with the eggplant salad recipe.

In a wok or large, deep skillet heat 2 TBS oil and sauté garlic until golden, add the onions, sauté until soft and add tomatoes, stir until soft. Add 2 cups of the broth. Drop the plantain, sweet potatoes and carrot. Simmer until a little tender. Add the cooked meat and the rest of the vegetables except the bok choy. Simmer and stir occasionally until cooked but not too soft then add the bok choy last and cook until bok choy is crisp tender. Season with salt or add one beef bouillon cube but check your salt fist.

Serve with rice and use Patis and lemon or calamansi for dip. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil on the vegetables in your plate.

This is a story about why I liked this dish:

We usually had this dish for a Sunday dinner (midday) when I was growing up. When I was a little girl I watched my Papa arranged the vegetables on his plate. He pretended he did not know I was watching and he did it slowly so maybe he could make me get interested to eat. He made it look so interesting and delectable that I copied him and I ate vegetables that I despised.

This was how he did it:

He took each vegetable in the dish such as a few pieces of the plantain and sweet potato, some green stuff like the cabbage and the bok choy, etc., then a piece of the meat. He cut them all up in small pieces on his plate, added a few drops of olive oil, mixed them all up, then seasoned it with Patis and calamansi to taste while reciting each step and vegetable name as if making a song. It got me interested all right that caused me to “beg” for some from his plate, which was his intention. My parents would do anything even how silly it was just to coax me to eat.