In the Philippines, we pride ourselves with different delicacies that cater to a variety of palates - sweet, savory, spicy, bitter, salty, sour - you name it, we have it. One of my favorites is the kare-kare. Kare-kare is a stew complemented with a thick savory peanut sauce. Traditionally, the choice meat (oxtails, beef stew cuts, pork hocks or tripe) is simmered for hours to desired tenderness and and along with a variety of vegetables such as banana heart, long beans and eggplant. To complement the flavor, a shrimp paste (bagoong alamang) usually comes with it. The richness of the stew complements the saltiness of the shrimp paste, the sweetness of the peanut sauce and the chewy meat. Picture that!
Carajay or Lechon Carajay/Lechon Kawali, on the other hand, are slices of pork belly which were boiled til tender together with different spices. Once tender, the slices are deep fried to achieve a golden brown and crisp perfection. The crunch of the meat plus the juiciness of the belly work well together. Drooling already?
Wait, there's more!!! What if these two delicious and deadly dishes are combined together? the result? Death by food.
My friends and I love to try new restaurants and food parks in search of new dishes and to simply just bond with each other. We came across one of the local food parks and inside is a stall called "House of Carajay" Their specialties include lechon carajay with a twist. they have Pakbet-kare kare (a combination of pinakbet, a tasty vegetable dish and carajay) and our new favorite discovery, the Kare-Carajay. It is similar to the usual Kare-kare dish, only that most of the meat are replaced with strips of the crispy lechon carajay. When I first tasted it, it felt like there were a million beautiful flavors exploding in my mouth. The crisp, juicy and savory taste is just on a whole other level. I'm never gonna look at kare-kare the same way ever again. It was like love at first sight. It has that homey feel to it. I am not exaggerating things, I'm just saying that it is a must-try. If you see yourself visiting the Philippines, try these dishes. If you are lucky enough you could also score the Kare-Carajay (though I am not sure if they have branches all over the Philippines)
Whenever my friends and I visit the food park, we always order Kare-Carajay. And I am sure we will still keep coming back for more.