Pinakbet (Sauteed Native Vegetables in Shrimp Paste)

Suprising that the pictures for this post came out fairly well considering I was rushed throughout the process by my family, all eagerly waiting to sit down and partake of our lunch meal. I suppose nothing whets a Filipino’s appetite more than the aroma of sauteed bagoong in garlic and onions!

Pinakbet is touted to be a very healthy dish, a medley of native vegetables rich in color and nutrients-eggplant, bittermelon, string beans, squash, and okra. Other versions utilize broiled fish such as tilapia or milkfish to pull the dish together. But there is a reason I am 10 pounds over my “wish” weight: I don’t make many wise food choices. And I’ve been bad in making this dish. Verry bad and used half a slab of pork belly, which by the way, is the meat used to cook a cardiologist’s nightmare-crispy lechon kawali!

On a personal note, this was the very first dish my mother learned to cook for her young family. I remember having this with fried galunggong (mackarel scad) every known Saturday until God decided to be kind and blessed me with a big enough allowance to afford a McDonald’s hamburger. So since today we are driving my mother to the airport for her trip back to the Philippines after her month’s visit, I think it was just fitting that I prepared this dish-for her. I love you mama and I’ll miss you very much!

Makes 6 Servings

1 eggplant, sliced into 2 in thick strips
1 bitter melon, seeded and sliced into 2-inch thick strips
15-20 pcs string beans, sliced into 4-inch lengths
3 tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
7-10 ea okra, ends trimmed
1 medium-sized Japanese sweet potato, cut into cubes
2 tbsps bagoong (shrimp paste)
1 lb pork belly, sliced into strips
3-4 cups broth vegetable oil

Prepare the vegetables.
In a pot, boil pork belly in around 5 cups of water until tender, adding more water as needed. Remove pork and slice into strips. Save broth.
In a skillet or wok, heat oil. Saute onions and garlic until tender.
Add pork strips and saute until slightly brown.
Add bagoong and continue to saute.
Add tomatoes. Saute until tomatoes soften.
Add broth and simmer for around 3-5 minutes.
Add sweet potato cubes and continue to simmer until slightly tender.
Add string beans, eggplant, bittermelon and okra.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, around 6-10 minutes.
Serve hot with steamed rice.

TIPS:
1) Today I used Japanese sweet potatoes and pork belly as this was how my mother always made it. I, on the other hand, normally use kabocha (Japanese squash) in place of the sweet potatoes and shelled shrimp instead of pork.
2) Simmer the dish uncovered to preserve the vegetables’ wonderful array of colors.
3) Pinakbet is delicious paired with crunchy-fried sole fish!