Grilled Pork Monggo with Banana Blossom

We were having dinner when I asked my mom what she will be cooking on Sunday and she told Nilagang Pata.  However, I have other idea since Nilagang Pata is a common dish.  I asked her to cook Pata sa Munggo at Puso ng Saging  or grilled pork monggo with banana blossom.

I woke up at around nine in the morning and had my breakfast.  My mom is already preparing the dish when I stepped in and volunteered to cook our lunch.  This is the first time I cooked this and with the help of my tatay who instructed me what to do.  I do not know how this recipe was called but this is a Sunday staple dish in our family.  This is my tatay’s recipe and I think it’s an Ilonggo recipe being my tatay a pure Ilonggo decent.

The pork leg was chopped and seasoned with fish sauce and black pepper.  It was marinated for an hour then it was grilled over live charcoal until golden brown.  The burnt parts were scrape off to remove the bitter taste.  Then everything were placed in a pot and simmered until the pork is fork tender.

May be you are wondering how it tastes.  Its like eating the sauted monggo beans with chunks of pork meat and chopped banana blossom with a very wonderful smoky flavor.  It is best serve with hot steamed rice and dipping sauce of fish sauce, calamansi and chili.

Ingredients

1 kilo                               Pork Leg, chopped
3 Tablespoons                   Fish Sauce
1 teaspoon                        Black Pepper
6 to 8 cups                       Water
1 cup                               Monggo or Mung Beans
1 whole piece                    Banana Blossom, chopped
1 piece                             Chicken Bouillon Cube
1 bulb                              Onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves                           Garlic, chopped
5 pieces                           Tomatoes, chopped
Fish Sauce
Black Pepper
Onion Chives cut to 1 cm long

Procedure

Clean pork leg.  Season with fish sauce and black pepper and marinate for an hour.  Grill over live charcoal until brown and the skin is crisp.  Scrape off burnt parts.

In a pot, combine grilled pork leg, 6 cups of water, mung beans, banana blossom, bouillon cube, onion, garlic and tomatoes.  Slowly simmer until the pork is tender.  Add water as needed.  Season with fish sauce and black pepper.  Garnish with onion chives.