CRAFT by Under My Host® Issue No. 18 Made in America: Part III | Page 48
W W W. C R A F T BY U M H . C O M
QUICK CALDERETA CHILI
This recipe resulted from a rare “happy accident” in the kitchen. Traditionally, caldereta is a Filipino beef
stew with a thick sauce enriched with liver pâté. I stumbled onto this particular variation when attempt-
ing to make a caldereta with ground beef, rather than the customary chunks of beef, in an effort to save
time. While I was successful in making a quick caldereta, I realized that my finished product looked ex-
actly like American chili. So for my next attempt, I added the spices usually found in American chili, such
as chili powder, cumin and cayenne. The result is this delicious Filipino-American chili laced with liver
and shrimp paste and redolent of smoky spice.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 45 minutes
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fermented shrimp paste (bagoong)
¼ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1½ lbs (750 g) ground beef
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne), plus more to taste
1 cup (250 ml) beer, preferably a pale lager
One 14.5-oz (425-ml) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
One 8-oz (250-ml) can tomato sauce
One 4.25-oz (120-g) can prepared liverwurst spread
For the garnish:
Grated Edam or cheddar cheese
Sliced green onions (scallions)
Chopped cilantro
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over moderately high heat until it begins to shimmer. Stir in the onion,
bell pepper, garlic, shrimp paste and dried red pepper flakes. Cook until the onion softens and turns trans-
lucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the beef to the pot and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat with a wooden
spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir in the salt, black pepper, chili powder, paprika, cumin and ground red pepper. Continue to cook until the
spices become fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the beer and fire-roasted tomatoes and stir to combine, being
sure to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Photography by Marvin Gapultos
Combine the tomato sauce and liverwurst spread in a blender or food processor. Purée, then pour the mix-
ture into the pot and stir. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30
minutes. Taste the chili and season with more salt and pepper as needed. If you’d like a spicier chili, add more
cayenne pepper. If the chili is thicker than you’d like, you can thin it out with additional beer.
Serve the chili in bowls, and garnish with cheese, green onion and cilantro as desired.
Reprinted with permission from Pulutan! Filipino Bar Bites, Appetizers and Street Eats
Recipes and Photos by Marvin Gapultos, Tuttle Publishing
© Hundred-to-One LLC 2018. All rights reserved.