Pinakbet Recipe

Pinakbet Recipe is a traditional Filipino vegetable dish. It originates in the northern region of the Philippines. From what I know, it originates in Ilocos.

Pinakbet recipe consists of sautéed meat and vegetables. Then shrimp paste is added to give it a distinct umami taste. Typically, squash, okra, yard long beans or sitaw and ampalaya or bitter gourd are the common vegetables used in this dish. The meat is usually pork or if you don’t mind the budget, shrimps or prawns are added instead of pork.

We’ve been eating pork and fastfood menus this week and mind you no vegetable at all. This dish is a break from pork dishes we had. Although it contains pork, the star ingredients are the vegetables.

You should be mindful with vegetables. You should cook it with care and love. The vegetables should be cooked but it should also maintain a crispy texture. Over cooked it and you got a pot of soggy vegetable dish.

Tips

Wash your raw bagoong or fermented shrimp paste once. The raw bagoong is really salty and you don’t want all those salt. You want to get that fermented shrimp paste flavor more than its saltiness.

Always simmer your pork specially if has fat until it is for tender. By the time the pork is tender the fat and juice already oozed out of the meat. Use this to fry your pork and sautéing your garlic and onion. You can reserved half of the pork and use it as a garnish upon serving. This will give your dish a crunch and that meaty flavor.

This dish can be your main course or side dish. If you add more pork you don’t need other meat. However, try to add enough pork for meaty flavor and pair it with fried fish and it will be delicious. Fried fish and sautéed vegetables is the best pair ever.

For other vegetable dishes you can check out Vegetable Dishes Recipe.

Ingredients

200 grams	Pork Belly, sliced
1 cup	Water
1/4 teaspoon	Salt
1/4 teaspoon	Ground Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons	Olive Oil
8 cloves	Garlic, minced
1 bulb	Onion, chopped
3 pieces	Ripe Tomatoes, diced
3 Tablespoons	Raw Bagoong or Shrimp Paste, rinsed once
1 – 2 cups	Rice Wash or Water
1 cup	Diced Squash
8 pieces	Okra, cut into two parts
6 pieces	Ampalaya, halves and deseeded
8 pieces	Sitaw or Yard long Beans, cut into 3  inch long
4 pieces	Eggplants, cut into 3 parts

Procedure

Combine sliced pork belly and water. Boil and simmer until tender. Add more water if needed. Let the water dries up. Stir constantly until the pork is golden brown.

Add the olive oil. Saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes.

Add 1/4 cup of rice wash and cover until the tomatoes are tender. Press the tomatoes with the back of your wooden spoon.

Add the raw bagoong and stir. Simmer for 3 minutes.

Add a cup of rice wash and squash and simmer for another 10 minutes. Press half of the squash with the back of the wooden spoon.

Add the okras, bitter gourd and yard long beans. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Add more rice wash if desired.

Lastly, add the eggplants and simmer for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.