Goat Caldereta Recipe

Caldereta is a favorite Filipino meal and one of the most served food during parties, festivities and other special occasions in the Philippines. It is classified as one of the Cocidos or Spanish Stew together with Menudo, Afritada and Mechado. It is a mixture of vegetables with a main ingredient of meat, either beef, pork, or chicken but a lot of people are saying that the best variation of it is the Goat Caldereta. You can always find it in the menus of an authentic Filipino restaurant or even in “turo-turo” types of restaurant.

The history behind this stew is quite uncertain, but what is apparent is that, this course is a Spanish-influenced food, since the Philippines were under the Spanish colony for more than 300 years. The word “caldereta” is actually a Spanish word, which means “cauldron” or “cooking pot.”  Although red lobster is the original primary ingredient used in this recipe, Filipinos which are very resourceful people replaced it with meat that is affordable and abundant in the Philippines when the dish is introduced to our country.

Traditionally, goat meat is the substitute to the original seafood ingredient this recipe uses, which in fact is said to taste like lamb meat. Also a healthier option than beef and lamb, goat meat can be up to 50 percent lower in fat but the protein content remains the same, making any dish less fatty but still flavorful and healthy. It also has the lowest cholesterol level but with highest iron per serving, as compared to beef, pork, lamb, and chicken.

Goat Caldereta Ingredients:

    1 kg Goat meat

    1 can button mushroom, cut into halves

    2 medium size onion, chopped

    1/2 head garlic, chopped

    1 can liver spread

    1 cup tomato sauce

    1 pack caldereta mix

    5-8 peppercorns, crushed

    2 medium size green/red bell pepper, cut into square

    2 medium size potato, quartered

    1 medium size carrots, cut same size as potato

    1/4 c. soy sauce

    1/4 c. vinegar

    3 cayenne pepper (siling labuyo)

    3 bay leaf

    salt

    pepper

Preparation:

To prepare this tasty Filipino recipe, first, marinate the goat meat with vinegar, a dash of salt and pepper for 5-10 minutes. Drain marinate and stir fry meat until color changes to light brown, set aside. In a casserole pan, saute' the garlic and onion, add meat and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce, tomato sauce and liver spread, stir cook for 3-5 minutes. 

Add 3-4 cups of water, crushed pepper corns and bay leaf then let it simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat are tender. Add potato, carrots, mushroom, cayenne pepper(siling labuyo) and caldereta mix diluted in 1/2 cup of water, simmer for another 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked and the sauce thickens. Add bell pepper, season with salt and cook for another 30 seconds. Finally, serve hot with rice.

Using goat meat as the main ingredient in caldereta is the smartest choice among the others because it produces the thickest sauce if combined with other ingredients, usually, bread crumbs, cheese or chicken liver, in order to reach that consistency. Everyone loves it, this dish simply suits the Filipino taste, so, I'm pretty sure that other countries might also want to have a taste of this captivating recipe.