Pochero: A Local Stew With A Bit Of A Twist

Pochero is a delightful dish. It boasts a medley of flavors. It’s a pretty popular dish and it has many versions. Here’s our very own version of pochero with a bit of a twist.

What Exactly Is Pochero?

Pochero is one of the many dishes we inherited from the Spaniards. Related Read: Yema Cake: Simple, Affordable, Yummy, And Easy To Make!

It’s a tomato-based stew with a lot of exciting flavors. Just like most of our local dishes, it’s good enough for a hearty meal. Related Read: Bulalo: A Single Dish For A Hearty Meal

You get carbs, protein, and veggies in a pochero dish. It’s pretty much all you need for a complete meal. Of course, you can always eat it with rice. 

You get carbs, protein, and veggies in a pochero dish. It’s pretty much all you need for a complete meal. Of course, you can always eat it with rice.

A Pochero Recipe With A Twist

As I mentioned previously, there are many variations of the pochero.

The Cebu version is devoid of tomatoes. It comes with a clear soup, together with some pieces of corn on a cob.

The Cebu version is devoid of tomatoes. It comes with a clear soup, together with some pieces of corn on a cob. At a quick glance, you might even mistake it for bulalo.

The pochero version we eat at home is stewed in tomato paste. 😀 If you’re wondering what the twist is, it’s the saging na saba with the balat! 😄 Yes, we do not remove the peel of the saging na saba.

Simple Pochero Ingredients

Except for the twist, there’s really nothing fancy about our pochero recipe. As a matter of fact, our pochero ingredients are very simple.

Below are our simple pochero ingredients:

• Saging na saba (ripe)
• Beef
• potatoes
• Cabbage
• String beans
• Chinese Sausage (We use King Sue)
• Tomato Paste
• Garlic
• Onion
• Knorr Cubes

Here’s How We Cook Our Beef Pochero

Here’s how we cook our beef pochero. Saute the beef in garlic and onions. Add in a beef knorr cube. While you’re doing this, make sure you’ve already filled up the pressure cooker with some water to give it time to boil.

Once you’re done sauteing the beef, transfer it to the pressure cooker. Let it cook for about 30 minutes. The beef will come out to be very tender that you won’t have to use a knife. 😃

Boil the potatoes and the saging na saba in another pan. Add in a Knorr cube. When that’s done, transfer the potatoes and the saging na saba to a bigger cooking pan or wok. Don’t throw the water because you will be putting in the string beans to soften them up.

Slice the Chinese sausages and cook in olive oil. Prepare the wok where the potatoes and saging na saba have been transferred to.

Now, it’s time to put all the ingredients together. Make sure to include the water from the pressure cooker and from the pan where the potatoes, saging na saba, and string beans were cooked.

Add in the tomato paste. We usually use two packets of Del Monte tomato paste (small sachets). Then add in the cabbage and cook for a couple of more minutes.

You can add more seasoning if you want. Maybe a little fish sauce, if you like. 😀 But most probably you won’t be needing any more seasoning.

When you taste the sauce, you’ll be getting a harmony of flavors from each of the ingredients. The combination of the saging na saba in the tomato sauce is something else.

That’s our simple beef pochero recipe. What’s yours? Feel free to share it with us here. We would love to hear from you.