Beef stew is just so comforting and warm,on Curacao they call it stoba. This papaya beef stew makes your house smell like a home and gets the family around the table in no time!
I’ve used a greenish papaya that is on the verge turning orange in this recipe.
What you’ll need for 4 persons:
– 500 grams stewing beef/ stoba
– 1 teaspoon Badia ground cumin
– La Choy soy sauce – salt and pepper to taste
– 1 diced green pepper (I used a green, but almost red pepper)
– 2 medium onions, diced
– 4 tomatoes, chopped
– ½ green, almost orange papaya (about 500 grams) peeled and diced
– 2 garlic gloves finely chopped
– Badia olive oil
Marinate the beef in some salt, pepper, cumin and the soy sauce.
In the mean time, start dicing your onion, tomatoes, pepper and garlic.
Heat up a thick-bottomed pan, add some olive oil and start browning the meat in two batches.
Remove the meat from the pan when it’s browned and put aside.
Add another bit of olive oil to the pan and add your onion, tomatoes, pepper and garlic to the pan. Give it a stir and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions have gone soft.
Add the meat back to the pan, submerge the meat with lukewarm water, bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Let the stew simmer for about an hour, or until the meat starts to soften.
This is about the right time to start peeling and dicing the papaya, make sure you remove the seeds. Add the diced papaya to the stew and let is simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes until the papaya has gone soft.
Serve with some rice and a simple fresh cucumber salad. If you enjoy spicy food, you will enjoy this with some freshly chopped chilli or pika!
