Pochero
Puchero (Pochero)
Home-style Filipino pochero with beef, chorizo de Bilbao, saba banana, potato, chickpeas, and cabbage in tomato broth.
Serves 6 · 1h 55m total
The Story
Pochero is what happens when a Spanish puchero lands in a Filipino kitchen and picks up saba banana. The broth is tomato-forward, not peanut like kare-kare and not as thick as caldereta. You want beef that shreds at the edge of a spoon, chickpeas that still hold a shape, and banana that is soft but not mash.
It is a Sunday stew: one pot, a pile of vegetables, and rice that soaks the orange-red broth. Chorizo de Bilbao is the salt and the color. Skip it and the pot tastes like a shy nilaga.
Add cabbage last so it stays a little crisp. The banana goes in before the greens so it can take on the tomato without falling apart.
Best paired with
Steamed rice and atchara on the side.
Use it in these KusinaPH recipes
Lola's Tips
- ✦Brown the beef well; pale meat makes a pale broth.
- ✦Use firm-ripe saba, not cooking-green and not dessert-soft.
- ✦Chickpeas go in with the potato so they warm through without bursting.
- ✦Cabbage only needs 5 minutes—longer and it tastes like laundry.
Substitutions
- beef chuck → pork kasim or mixed beef shank
- chorizo de Bilbao → sliced hotdog plus a pinch of paprika
- saba banana → plantain, slightly underripe
Ingredients
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Instructions
- 1
Pat beef dry. Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown beef on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Scoop out.
- 2
In the same pot, saute onion and garlic 2 minutes. Return beef. Pour in broth, tomato sauce, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer covered 50 to 60 minutes until the beef is almost tender.
- 3
Add potato, carrot, chickpeas, and chorizo. Simmer 12 minutes.
- 4
Add saba. Simmer 8 minutes until the banana is soft and the potato is cooked through.
- 5
Tuck in cabbage wedges. Cook 5 minutes until just wilted. Season with pepper and more patis if needed.
- 6
Serve in a deep bowl with broth, meat, banana, and vegetables over rice.
Kitchen Timer · 25 min prep first
90:00
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