Puchero
Puchero is a type of stew that is common to Spanish influenced countries such as the South America and the Philippines, The word “puchero” itself is a Spanish term that means “stew pot.” The ingredient varies from region to region but the main ingredients that always stay are chick peas or white beans and meat.
This dish originated as a peasant food and was traditionally eaten over the course of several days where the first days it is consumed with rice, the second day it is consumed with noodles and if there are still left overs it is used in a variety of dishes like croquettes or ropa vieja (a shredded beef in a tomato sauce).
In South America (such as Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay) they use more meat and sometime don’t use chickpeas as it is less common in those countries, In Spain they use more chick peas than meat, and in Philippines they use chickpeas as well but some variations uses white beans.
If this was a peasant food during the early days, I guess this is one good reason to be one. A very hearty dish that is best enjoyed with steaming hot rice.
Ingredients
800g Beef Brisket or 1kg Beef Ribs
1 large can baked beans
3 cups beef stock
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 pcs cardaba/saba bananas, sliced
1 large red onion
4 cloves garlic
2 bunch bok choy, blanched
2 tbsp red sugar
oil
fish sauce
1 tbsp black pepper
Method
1. In a pot, sauté garlic and onion in oil.
2. Add beef and brown on all sides.
3. Add beef stock, tomato paste and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 60 minutes or until tender.
4. Add the bananas and baked beans. Simmer for additional 15 minutes.
5. Season with fish sauce and freshly ground black pepper.
7. Once cooked mix in the blanched bok choy.
i definitely definitely want to try this one soon! i haven’t tasted this and the ingredients are very accessible, so why not!
Looks amazing. If I were to use dried beans what spices do you think I’d need to compensate?
If my husband and I are ever in your neck of the woods, we are stopping by, and expecting this meal AND some pork buns!
LOVE the addition of the bananas. I really wish a restaurant around here existed that had food that looked and tasted THIS good.
I too use bananas in cooking Raymund although its more of the semi-riped green ones. This is new to me.
I am always amazed at how much your blog teaches me about different cultures. I really love this place. And I love the beef brisket in this recipe as well.
Lots of times “peasant food” sounds pretty darn good to me!
This dish has no pork in it:)
Mmmm.. . i love pochero! But what’s the diferrence if I use tomato sauce instead of tomato paste?
I’ll make sure to include this in my next week’s menu.
Ahh.. drooling now! hahaha..
Yup you can use tomato sauce, i just use tomato paste as the tomato sauce or puree what they called here is a bit bland in taste compared to the one we have int the Philippines
we dont eat beef . Can i use chicken instead?.. Love your recipes
Yup you can use chicken, in fact we use chicken sometimes.
Some of my favorite food is peasant food.
Is your wife Paraguayan too? I should ask mine to make this for me!
-j
Peasant food is always flavourful, though rustic they taste always great. BTW my wife is not Paraguayan, she is a Filipino and most of the Filipino food have similarities with the South and Latin American dishes due to the Spanish.
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Wow – this is simialr to ours isn´t it?! And we have ropa vieja too! Love the bananas, very different for us
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