Seafood Kare-Kare Recipe

The perfect holiday for you, seafood lovers, is a Christmas recipe that shows the true uniqueness of Filipino cuisine. If you want a taste of the ocean right on your holiday table, start taking notes because this seafood kare-kare recipe is about to enliven your dinner!

Using a rich peanut sauce base and a generous mix of shrimp, crab, mussels, and squid, there couldn’t be a more flavorful dish that balances a sweet, nutty, and tangy, oceany taste all at the same time. It’s like having a party of flavors in your mouth that nobody wouldn’t want to miss. 

For a tasty, aromatic bowl of seafood kare-kare, its already creamy peanut sauce from Fayenuts is made even creamier with coconut cream, coating every seafood and vegetable ingredient with savory sauce.

The Lucky Bucket’s Palawan Tahong Meat are also a convenient option that saves you from the hassle of cleaning and preparing those bought from the wet market with shells still intact. Despite being packed, it’s guaranteed to retain freshness.

As a lunch idea or a centerpiece for Christmas dinner, seafood kare-kare is a timeless and classic dish loved by many Filipinos. It’s not surprising that it’s even gaining attention from tourists and natives from other nations, especially with a mandatory pairing with bagoong alamang or cooked shrimp paste. You know it!

Try adding a kick to your seafood kare-kare with sweet and spicy bagoong alamang from Papaping’s and watch yourself discover a whole new world of flavor.

See full recipe below!

Ingredients

• 1/2 kilo shrimp head and shell cleaned
• 2 crabs steamed
• 1/2 kilo The Lucky Bucket Palawan Tahong Meat
• 1 medium squid, steamed and sliced
• 8 to 10 string beans tied in knots
• 1 small banana heart chopped
• 2 cups coconut cream or kakang gata
• 500g Fayenuts Kare-Kare Sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons annatto powder or atsuete diluted in 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 medium onion minced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 3 tablespoons shrimp paste
• 6 tablespoons cooking oil
• water
• Papaping’s Sweet and Spicy Bagoong Alamang

Preparation

Directions

1. Blanch the veggies

• To start, pour 5 cups of water into a pot and bring it to a boil.
• Blanch the string beans and banana heart for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Next, transfer the veggies to a bowl of ice-cold water to cool them down, letting them sit for 3 minutes before removing and setting aside.

2. Cook the seafood

• Heat 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan. Pan-fry the shrimp over medium heat for 2 minutes on each side, then remove them from the pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, sear the squid using the remaining oil for 2 minutes per side. Remove the squid and set it aside.
• Pan-fry the steamed crabs for 2 ½ minutes per side. Set aside.
• Add the Lucky Bucket Palawan Tahong Meat to the pan and stir-fry or pan-fry for a total of 4 minutes. Pour in the water used to boil the mussels (or if using pre-cooked mussels, use the water from the package).
• Deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom with a spatula to mix in any bits of seafood, and so all stir-fried bits will be incorporated into the liquid.
• Remove the mussels from the pan afterward and transfer the liquid to a separate bowl.

3. Make the kare-kare sauce

• Saute onion and garlic
• Add 500 grams of Fayenuts kare-kare sauce and equal parts water
• Simmer and season to taste.

Serve with sweet and spicy bagoong alamang (cooked shrimp paste) from Papaping’s.