Learn how to make some curried tripe and beans from scratch. Honeycomb cows tripe that is pressure cooked, seasoned and simmered down in a coconut milk sauce with butter beans.
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Any old school heads will be familar with tripe, it's something that you either love it or hate it similar to my Liver and Onions with Gravy recipe.
Don't forget to check my sister recipe to this one Tripe and Onions.
I'm not the biggest fan of tripe, to be completely honest and I would try to avoid it when I was younger.
These days I tend to prepare tripe on request, for many it is a taste of their childhood and/or simply a taste of home.
What is tripe?
Tripe is an organ meat and it is an edible lining of an animals stomach, anything from a cow, pig, deer, ox, or sheep.
Beef tripe is the most commonly eaten and recognised tripe of them all.
This part of the animal is quite tough and dense therefore it is somewhat similar to oxtail, where pressure cooking or cooking over a long period of time is best practice.
It doesn't have much taste, in fact I would render it tasteless with a sponge type of texture.
With that being said, this particular cut of meat contains a moderate amount of fat which is outweighed by its high levels of protein making it a great buidling block for muscles.
It also contains other nutrients such as iron, selenium, zinc, calcium and vitamin B12 (source).
As it is cost effective, in this economical climate it is perfect for families who are on a strict budget but also looking for meat that is filling.
While it might not be your first or go to choice of meat to eat, it does have some pros to it, so give it a try!
Recipe preparation
The most important thing with tripe is the preparation, the tripe needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
In typical Caribbean mode I thoroughly wash and clean the tripe with lime, salt and vinegar.
It is crucial to get rid of any dirt or debris before hand.
There are different types of tripe on the market, cow is the most popular. I always aim to purchase honeycomb rather then the blanket kind because it is slightly more tender.
My butcher chopped my tripe into medium cuts which made it easier to work with. If you can, ask if that they can chop it up for you.
As this is a tough textured meat, you will need a bit of patience and give yourself plenty of time for cooking.
It takes a few hours for tripe to become tender, what I like to do is fast track the whole softening process by pressure cooking it first.
I pressure cook it in my instant pot for 60 minutes, this is a much quicker method than doing it on stove top which you will need 2-3 hours.
Once it has been pressure cooked, drain and let to cool down I then chop it onto my desired size, I like to chop it into small pieces and then season it.
Then you will follow the usual format for cooking one of my many curries - burning the curry first, sauteing the base ingredients with the tripe, adding any additional vegetables and adding the coconut milk and butter beans.
I like to use coconut milk rather than depend on just water because it gives more of a rich sauce and I also like to use cooked butter beans too.
How to make tripe tender (and clean it)
- Place the tripe in a large bowl filled with water.
- Pour vinegar into the bowl along with pink salt
- Use the halves of limes to rub against the tripe and also inspect it for any additional debris or dirt.
- Thoroughly rinse off the tripe (I like to use a colander).
- Place the tripe in the instant pot and fill half of the inner pot with water.
- Switch the unit on, then select "pressure cook" "high" and use the "+/-" function and set for 60 minutes.
- Put the lid on and flick the switch to "sealing" (the unit will take a few minutes to come to pressure).
- After the given time, let the unit do a natural release (this will take 10-15 minutes) then turn the switch to "venting" to release the excess pressure.
- Drain off the water and then allow to cool.
- Chop the tripe into small pieces and place in a medium sized bowl.
Ingredients you will need
- Tripe - It is best to use honeycomb (beef tripe) because this variation is the most tender of them all.
- Butter beans - I like to use butter beans that are canned and in water.
- Coconut milk - You will need to use full fat coconut milk
- Curry powder - I always use my homemade Jamaican curry powder, as with most of my island recipes.
- Olive oil - For sauteing and cooking the tripe.
- Bell peppers/tomato/carrot - You can use any vegetables but I like to use this trio.
- Tomato paste - Just a small amount of tomato paste is needed.
- Onion/garlic/scallion/ginger - These are my go to base ingredients.
- All purpose seasoning/onion/garlic granules/ paprika/ thyme/ black pepper/pink salt - These are herbs and spices that I am using.
- Pimento berries - Also known as allspice
- Scotch bonnet pepper - I pierced the scotch bonnet pepper to give the dish some heat.
The steps
- Place the tripe in a large bowl.
- Add the curry powder, onion granules, garlic granules, all purpose seasoning, paprika, black pepper and pink salt.
- Use your hands to work the dry seasoning into the tripe and set aside.
- Meanwhile, on medium heat, add the olive oil and curry powder to a large frying pan/skillet and cook for about one minute.
- Add the onion, scallion, garlic and ginger and saute until soft and translucent.
- Add the tripe and cook it for several minutes.
- Add the carrots and bell peppers and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, pimento berries, thyme, all purpose seasoning, scotch bonnet and butter beans and stir.
- Pour in the coconut milk and bring the pan to a rolling boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low with the lid on and simmer for 35-40 minutes.
- After the given time, do a taste test and add any additional black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Discard the scotch bonnet and thyme stems before serving.
Notes and tips
- This is the Jamaican Curry Powder and All Purpose Seasoning that I use to make the recipe.
- Do not freeze the tripe, it is best to serve it immediately, if possible.
- Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
- Reheat the tripe on the stovetop, add a splash of water to the curry if needed to loosen it up.
- Make sure to do a taste test of the curry and add more seasoning if required.
- I highly recommend using a pressure cooker to tenderise the tripe, doing it by stovetop will be more time consuming (I'm about a few hours).
- Once the tripe has been tenderised. I recommend testing the texture, you can eat a small piece (it will be tasteless but soft) or squeezing a small amount between your fingers (it should feel soft and spongy).
- If for whatever reasons your tripe isn't tender after pressure cooking it, then pressure cook it for a bit longer although 60 minutes for honeycomb tripe should be suffice.
- Try to use honeycomb tripe and not blanket tripe, honeycomb is a more tender variation.
- You can purchase tripe from markets that sell an assortment of meat, if it usually a cheap cut of meat and fairly inexpensive.
More recipes to try
- Brown Rice
- Jamaican Steamed Cabbage
- Steamed Vegetables
- Boiled Plantain
- Green Banana Mash
- Jamaican Callaloo
- Roast Breadfruit
- Coconut Dumpling
- Baked Tostones
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Tripe and Beans
Ingredients
- 2 lb honeycomb beef tripe (907g)
- a few limes and vinegar
For seasoning the tripe
- 2 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon onion granules
- 1 tablespoon garlic granules
- 1 tablespoon all purpose seasoning
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon pink salt
To cook the curry
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 scallion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 1 large carrot chopped
- ½ red bell pepper chopped
- ½ green bell pepper chopped
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon pimento berries
- 8 sprigs of thyme tied together
- 2 teaspoon all purpose seasoning
- 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
- 14 oz can of butter beans (400g) drained
- 14 oz full fat coconut milk (400ml)
- additional black pepper and pink salt to taste
Instructions
To pressure cook the tripe
- Place the tripe in a large bowl filled with water.
- Pour vinegar into the bowl along with pink salt.
- Use the halves of limes to rub against the tripe and also inspect it for any additional debris or dirt.
- Thoroughly rinse off the tripe (I like to use a colander).
- Place the tripe in the instant pot and fill half of the inner pot with water.
- Switch the unit on, then select "pressure cook" "high" and use the "+/-" function and set for 60 minutes.
- Put the lid on and flick the switch to "sealing" (the unit will take a few minutes to come to pressure).
- After the given time, let the unit do a natural release (this will take 10-15 minutes) then turn the switch to "venting" to release the excess pressure.
- Drain off the water and then allow to cool.
- Chop the tripe into small pieces and place in a medium sized bowl.
To season and cook the tripe
- Place the tripe in a large bowl.
- Add the curry powder, onion granules, garlic granules, all purpose seasoning, paprika, black pepper and pink salt.
- Use your hands to work the dry seasoning into the tripe and set aside.
- Meanwhile, on medium heat, add the olive oil and curry powder to a large frying pan/skillet and cook for about one minute.
- Add the onion, scallion, garlic and ginger and saute until soft and translucent.
- Add the tripe and cook it for several minutes.
- Add the carrots and bell peppers and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, pimento berries, thyme, all purpose seasoning, scotch bonnet and butter beans and stir.
- Pour in the coconut milk and bring the pan to a rolling boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low with the lid on and simmer for 35-40 minutes.
- After the given time, do a taste test and add any additional black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Discard the scotch bonnet and thyme stems before serving.
Notes
- This is the Jamaican Curry Powder and All Purpose Seasoning that I use to make the recipe.
- Do not freeze the tripe, it is best to serve it immediately, if possible.
- Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
- Reheat the tripe on the stovetop, add a splash of water to the curry if needed to loosen it up.
- Make sure to do a taste test of the curry and add more seasoning if required.
- I highly recommend using a pressure cooker to tenderise the tripe, doing it by stovetop will be more time consuming (I'm about a few hours).
- Once the tripe has been tenderised. I recommend testing the texture, you can eat a small piece (it will be tasteless but soft) or squeezing a small amount between your fingers (it should feel soft and spongy).
- If for whatever reasons your tripe isn't tender after pressure cooking it, then pressure cook it for a bit longer although 60 minutes for honeycomb tripe should be suffice.
- Try to use honeycomb tripe and not blanket tripe, honeycomb is a more tender variation.
- You can purchase tripe from markets that sell an assortment of meat, if it usually a cheap cut of meat and fairly inexpensive.
Nutrition
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