How To Cook Pochero

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How to cook Pochero? Pochero is a Filipino stew dish that was inherited from the Spanish. In Spain, they call it Puchero and is also prepared in Mexico and other South American countries.  Pochero consequently reached the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period of our history.  The Spanish word puchero means stewpot in English.  Pochero is almost the same as the Spanish dish called cocido but does not use colorants like paprika.

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Pochero is a stew of meat, vegetable, root crops and legumes.  In Andalusia, Spain, they considered this as peasant stew in the old times. This is because the meat usually used were from the cheapest cuts of pork, beef and chicken.   The vegetables often used where whatever was in season.  It certainly is not a peasant stew anymore!

What makes the Filipino Pochero different in contrast to the Spanish Cocido?

Unlike in Spain, the Filipino Pochero is different because it uses tomato sauce rather than paprika.  But what sets it apart from other tomato-based stews?  It is because ripe plantain banana or ‘saba’ is a must.  Without a plantain, it it is not a pochero.  First of all, the plantain adds a natural sweetness to the dish. Secondly, plantain helps in producing the interesting flavor of the stew. Thirdly, Filipinos probably added plantain in pochero because it is very common in the Philippines and is easily available.  The plantain therefore makers pochero a uniquely Filipino dish.

The meat usually used in pochero is beef.  Likewise, pork and chicken are ok to use too.  Similarly, some people combine the meats but I would rather use only one kind.  I remember my Uncle Jinggoy and his beef pochero.  He usually boils the beef first and sets aside the broth to make a soup out of it. Then he adds some of the vegetables like cabbage and green beans.  He then serves the dish with an eggplant relish that has vinegar and loads of garlic in it!

How to cook pochero?  Simple!  Just ry this simple pochero recipe and I am almost sure your family will love this!  It is certainly an easy pochero recipe and above all tastes so good!

How To Cook Pochero

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo meat cubed (chicken, beef, or pork)
• 1 bunch bok choy (pechay)
• 1 small cabbage, quartered
• 1 large plantain (saba) banana (ripe), chopped
• 100 grams long green beans
• 1 medium sized potato, cubed (sweet potato optional)
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced.  You can also use canned tomatoes like THIS.
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon whole pepper corn
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1 cup chick peas (garbanzos)
• 1 cup water
• 1 chicken cube
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Sugar to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat cooking oil in a cooking pot.
2. Sauté garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
3. Add meat and cook until the color turns light brown.
4. Add-in chicken cube, whole pepper corn, and tomato sauce. Stir.
5. Add water and let boil. Simmer until meat is tender (about 30 to 40 minutes).
6. In a separate frying pan, fry potatoes and saba until golden light brown. Set aside.
7. Add-in potato, saba, and chick peas. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
8. Add cabbage and long green beans. Cook for 5 minutes.
9. Stir-in the bok choy. Cover the pot and turn off the heat.
10. Let the residual heat cook the bok choy (about 5 minutes).
11. Season with salt, pepper and sugar according to desired taste.
12. Transfer to a serving plate and serve with rice, eat the Filipino way and enjoy!

 

 

Other recipes may be found HERE.