Kinamatisang Baka – Beef with Tomatoes
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The abundant supply of sweet tomatoes this summer season lured me to cook Kinamatisang Baka – Beef With Tomatoes. To Filipinos, the root word of ‘kinamatisang’ is ‘kamatis’ for tomatoes. Thus, this recipe title translates to beef with tomatoes.
We are fortunate to live in New Jersey or the Garden State, the home of the best, sweetest Jersey tomatoes. But the beauty of this dish is that you don’t need the most pretty-looking tomatoes. In fact, you can use almost any variety, and any size of ripe tomatoes. You can even use the over ripe, bruised ones and the stew turns out perfect. Since beef takes work to tenderize, I cooked the beef chuck short ribs separately in the Instant Pot pressure cooker to soften. You can still cook this stovetop if you don’t own an Instant Pot or a pressure cooker. It just takes longer hours stovetop.
Once the beef was soft and fall-off-the-bone tender, I sauteed the tomatoes in the saucepan together with garlic and onions. The bright red slices simmered and swayed in the broth till they were crushed, and the reddish juices flowed out. Adding the green beans and spinach came last. And when the softened beef was mixed in, the whole stew came together in one savory, fragrant medley.
Kinamatisang Baka - Beef with Tomatoes
Equipment
- Instant Pot multicooker - 6 or 8 quarts
- Large saucepan
- large stockpot (if cooking beef stovetop)
Ingredients
For beef
- 4 to 5 pounds beef chuck short ribs, bone-in; about 4 to 5 pieces
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ of a whole onion, chopped
- 6 to 8 cups beef broth; or water
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For tomatoes and vegetables:
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
- ½ of a whole onion, chopped
- 5 to 6 whole tomatoes, sliced
- 1 Tablespoon patis (fish sauce)
- 3 to 4 cups beef stock ; from cooking the beef short ribs
- 250 grams green beans, sliced into 2-inch length pieces
- 2 cups baby spinach, washed
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For serving:
- steamed rice
Instructions
To cook the beef short ribs in the Instant Pot: (option 1)
- Wash the beef short ribs in cold, running water to remove any trace of blood. Dry with paper towels.Click Saute button on keypad.Pour the 2 tablespoons oil into the inside pot.When oil is hot in about 2 minutes, over medium-high heat, saute the garlic and onions.Add the beef short ribs. Pour the beef broth.Season with salt and black pepper.Click Cancel to turn off Saute function.
- Close and lock the lid. Set the Sealing valve to face away from you.Click Manual + High Pressure + Meat/stews + 40 minutes.When timer beeps to signal cooking is done, set the valve forward and do a Natural Release.Carefully unlock and remove the lid of the Instant Pot. Set the lid on the counter.Remove the beef pieces and set aside. Reserve 4 cups of the broth for cooking with tomatoes. *Note: You can keep the leftover beef broth in the freezer for soup stock in other dishes.
To cook Kinamatisang Baka:
- In a large, deep saucepan, pour the oil. When oil is hot enough, saute the garlic and onions.Add the tomatoes and press the slices with the back of a cooking spoon, for juices to burst out.Pour the patis and mix with the ingredients.Pour the reserved beef broth of about 4 cups.
- Add the green beans into the saucepan. Cover and continue cooking for 10 minutes till beans are soft.Add the softened beef . Then add the spinach. Season with salt and black pepper.Turn off heat and let the leafy spinach cook for 1 minute in the residual heat.Serve warm with rice.
To cook beef short ribs stovetop (option 2)
- In a large, deep stockpot, over medium-high heat, pour the oil. When oil is hot enough, saute the garlic and onions.Add the beef. Pour the stock. Season with salt and pepper.Cover and cook till beef is tender for about 2 hours.When beef is fork-tender, remove from the stockpot and set aside.Reserve about 4 cups broth for cooking with tomatoes.
Cook's comments:
- Feel free to add other vegetables and greens like eggplant, sitaw (long green beans), kangkong (water spinach), bok choy, cabbage or even kale if preferred. You can also use boneless beef stew cubes for this recipe. Adjust cooking time for boneless cuts to a shorter period.
Nutrition
Notes on Nutrition: The nutrition information provided in the recipe links is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.
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