This is another dish where there are as many variations as there are regions in the Philippines. From the region that I come from, it is called "balatong". Some prefer it thick some like it soupy. Some like to put different types of vegetables with it. Me, I happen to like mine on the soupy side and I like it best with bittermelon (ampalaya) leaves. I had a couple of bittermelon plants come up in our garden this year, one was scrawny but the other one was lush and full of big pretty leaves. I just had to make this soup to use some of the leaves before the frost beats me to it.

Want to cook mung bean soup?

In the Philippines, this dish is also called 'binagoongan'. Translated loosely as something cooked in bagoong, a term used for fermented fish or in this case shrimp paste. While I have heard of this dish for years I have never made it myself nor have I ever tasted it, I don't think. I was intrigued by its description though, and I have heard of how delicious it is from other people, I just had to try it out.

Plus, for some reason, I have had the weirdest craving for something fatty and salty lately so could anything be more perfect than this dish to sate my craving? The more I researched how to cook this dish, the more I realized how many different versions and variations there are. It's almost like our beloved adobo. Everyone has their own version of it. So even though I didn't at first plan on associating this dish with the traditional 'binagoongan' as I didn't really follow any of the recipes I looked at but rather did one of my cafeteria methods again by picking and choosing elements that I liked from each recipe, I supposed I can honestly say this is my version of 'binagoongan'.

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork belly, cut into chunks or cubes
6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, sliced
1 inch knob of ginger, sliced
2 serrano chilis, chopped with seeds
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. shrimp paste
1/2 cup water (or more as needed)

Place the pork belly chunks in a pot over medium heat and lightly brown the sides until some fat have been rendered. Add the garlic, onions, and ginger. Saute' with the pork for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the chili peppers and vinegar, cover and cook for a couple of minutes until the vinegar has almost been absorbed and the dish starts to sizzle again. Add the soy, shrimp paste and a half cup of water. Mix, cover and simmer until the pork is tender and almost all of the liquids have been absorbed. Check every 20 minutes or so and if the liquid is almost gone but the pork is not as tender you'd like it to be, add another half a cup of water. Keep repeating this until the pork is fork tender and the liquid has been reduced. This shouldn't be soupy.

Good luck, and good eating :) Make sure you have lots of steamed rice on hand.


Filipino Cookbooks

In light of the spoon incident, I wanted to post this dish that cannot be eaten with a fork and knife (I'd like to see someone try), but begs to be eaten by hand. Milkfish or Bangus is the national fish of the Philippines. It is a delicious fish, but it makes you work for your pleasure. Is that a Filipino trait too? I don't know ;-)


After paying for the exorbitant price (with eyes wide-shut) they were selling this fish at the oriental market for (a bag of 4 pieces of frozen baby milkfish was $3.74!), I had Asi help me cook this dish, since she is also my only helper in eating it. We two are the only ones with patience to pick all the bones out and eat with our hands. While I usually like this cooked almost dry, Asi got carried away with the computer and forgot about keeping an eye on the stove. At least it didn't burn **eyes rolling**. Cooking it is very simple.

INGREDIENTS:
1 milkfish, cut into pieces
1 inch of ginger sliced thin
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons of salt
1 jalapeno pepper

Place all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat down and cook until juices are reduced to your desired consistency. Don't do like Asi and dry it out thoroughly. You'll want some pan juices to spoon over hot steaming rice. Best eaten with hands.

The first Lasang Pinoy event is here, and it is to commemorate Ninoy Aquino Day. I am ignorant to political details so I wouldn't be able to tell you much about the background of Philippine politics that catapulted Benigno Aquino Jr. to legendary status.

This dish is an acquired taste and some would say it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Read more about why I chose Pinapaitan for this first round of Lasang Pinoy.

Karen's comment in the Manila Bulletin article below about rice paddy snails reminded me of this delicacy. My mom visited last month to pick up the girls, and while she was here we made a trip to the Chinese grocery store in Raleigh. I have seen these snails there before, but I never bought any because one, I wasn't sure if they were the right kind and two, I wasn't sure how I would fix it. She was excited to see these, because she says she hadn't even seen them in LA. She says they are called "leddeg" in Ilokano. I think they are river snails.

When we got them home, we gave them a good washing and soaked them in water for a while. Mom was glad to see they had prepped them already. Apparently, you have to break or crush the bottom part of each snail, to release the pressure and make the flesh easier to get to once they're cooked.

These were cooked simply, in boiling water with onions and ginger with a bit of tamarind powder thrown in. My mom liked the soup a lot. I hate that I didn't think about it, but I probably could have thrown in some pepper leaves for added flavor, and I sure have lots of pepper leaves in the garden. Ah, well, maybe next time.

I have been tracking Manang's posts on the unwanted parts of pork, and she got me hankering for something sinful, and I have been eyeing these pig's feet at the grocery store for some time but I wasn't sure how to cook them. So I too referred to Sassy's recipe for paksiw na pata.



I used dried lily buds like Manang since I don't have bulaklak ng saging as Sassy's recipe called for. As usual, I was the only one who ate this. Hubby tasted the sauce and liked it, but he said the rest of the stuff was too fatty. He put the sauce over his rice. Asi tasted it and liked it too. Jade and the Clone won't even taste it. Oh well, more for me. I had to put half in of it in the freezer though, so I won't overdo it. Still gotta watch the fats, you know :).

This is my lola's favorite dish. Not a week goes by that she doesn't cook 'dinengdeng', a typical ilokano dish, at least once.


My dinengdeng recipe.