Beef Pochero

Pochero is a traditional Spanish dish that has been adapted by Filipinos and is usually served to guests on special occasions. A true blue pochero has about a million ingredients and take a few hours to simmer. Here is my simple but equally sumptuous version:



The picture was hastily taken but it was delicious.

Beef Pochero

Ingredients:

2-3 large beef shanks
1 kilo beef pochero cut (you can use beef ribs)
1-2 chorizo de bilbao, sliced
1 can garbanzo beans, skins removed
1 large onion, chopped
1 head garlic, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
Olive oil
1 pack tomato paste
1 head cabbage, quartered and cored
3 bunches of pechay (you can use Bok Choy)
1 bunch of Baguio or green beans, ends cut.
1 bunch of leeks sliced diagonally (white portions only)
2-3 Kamote (yams), peeled and cubed
2-3 Potatoes, peeled and cubed
5 Saging na saba (plantain bananas), peeled and sliced in half
1-2 Beef bouillion cube (optional)

"Sauce"
1 eggplant, boiled, peeled and mashed
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
white vinegar

Procedure:

1. Boil beef and chorizo together for for hours (yes, four hours), season with salt and pepper. Skim off scum. Set aside.
2. In a separate pot, saute garlic, onions and tomatoes. Add the boiled beef,stock, buillion cube and tomato paste. Simmer.
3. When boiling, add the kamote, potatoes, saba bananas, garbanzo beans until tender.
4. Add all the other vegetables.

Serve with sauce on the side. (Just combine all the ingredients together).

You can use beef and chicken too, in the same pot.