Can you believe that this is the first time I cooked Pinakbet in my whole life considering this is a staple in our household?
I believe I had taken it for granted because it was always there plus I never liked my mom’s version…
Ssshhhhh….don’t tell her.
Today, with the KCC theme in mind, I made my own version of Pinakbet.
Pinakbet is a popular Ilocano dish made with vegetables and shrimp paste. It is usually made with snake beans, bittermelon, okra, squash and eggplant.
I discovered that I don’t like pork in my Pinakbet, I like it served on the side or as a topping to this dish in the form of Lechon Kawali or Deep Fried Pork belly.
I also discovered that I don’t like a lot of eggplants in there….
..and the best discovery of all, I discovered that I cook delicious Pinakbet.
{This one came from my nanay, I actually heard her whispering it to my tatay…LOL!}
Lots of discoveries today…hmmnnn..
Squash Blossoms are so pretty…. It’s a good thing that they’re edible.
Pinakbet {Filipino Vegetable Stew}
Ingredients
- 500g pork belly, sliced for frying
- 5 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 bunch kangkong leaves
- 1 bittermelon, seeds removed and sliced
- 1 eggplant, cut into pieces
- 2 cups squash, diced or sliced
- 10 pcs okra, each sliced diagonally into 2
- 10 pcs squash blossoms, cleaned {remove the thing in the middle and the stem}
- 2 pcs taro or gabi, sliced
- 3 tbsp shrimp paste
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Deep fry pork belly slices in hot oil until brown and delicious. Set aside for later.
- In the same pan, with most of the oil removed, sauté garlic, onion and tomato until onions are translucent and tomatoes are wilted.
- Add shrimp paste and water. Give it a good stir.
- Add squash and taro. Simmer for 5 minutes or until these veggies are tender.
- Add bittermelon, eggplant and okra. Simmer for another five minutes. Stir.
- Add the remaining ½ cup water if the sauce is drying up.
- Add the kangkong leaves and the squash blossoms when the vegetables are almost cooked
- Top with chopped fried pork belly and serve with steamed rice.
♥NOTE: I tried taking a photo of the one with fried pork belly but the vegetables can’t be seen, so I opted not to show you that photo.
—♥♥♥—
KCC or Kulinarya Cooking Club’s Theme for August & September is to showcase a dish with the colors RED, WHITE, BLUE and YELLOW to commemorate National Heroes Day and Ninoy Aquino’s death anniversary.
For RED, it’s the tomatoes. They might be a little on the orange side but it was reddish when it was raw.
For WHITE, I put gabi or taro. It turned dirty white when it was touched by the shrimp paste…
For YELLOW, I have squash and squash blossoms
And for BLUE, I wanted the eggplant to be my blue. I forgot that it turns green when cooked..LOL! So, I used a blue dish, instead…
Hosts? I hope this passes the theme…
Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.
Drop by the blogs of the other KCC members who participated in this challenge:
Caroline on Salted Duck Egg and Tomato Salad
Malou on Adobo Wrap with Pineapple Vinaigrette
33 Responses
paano maka join sa club na yan sis. gus2 ko rin matuto mag plating 🙂
i must admit, i haven’t tried cooking pinakbet, too! lol.
love that you managed to share this delicious dish (as whispered by your nanay to your tatay) over at Food Friday, Peach.
enjoy the rest of the weekend! 🙂
Ako rin di pa nakakapagluto niyan. Baka kasi di kainin ng asawa ko dahil may bagoong hehehe.
Ako naman,iba rin ang self-version ko ng Pinakbet, walang kalabasa, kasi di ko yun kinakain but I think I will try to put the Kalabasa blossom,kasi,kumakain ako nun eh, lol!
jaz be on a look out. squash flowers have local residents
heres my entry
I grew up eating pinakbet! But, many times we’d eat it without the tomato.
wow! wooden plate kung wooden plate! ahahaha
I love pinakbet, both my parents are Ilocano. So we eat a lot of dish with veggies and bagoong and I love it. I love pork in pinakbet but like you, I don’t like eggplant too either. by the way my mom cooks the best pinakbet I’ve ever tasted. I wish I could taste yours so I can compare. hehe.. it looks delish though!
pinakbet is one dish I almost always cook for it is easy not to mention yummy! Okra is my favorite ingredient in this dish 🙂
happy sunday!
One of my favorite Filipino veggie recipes !
I love the added touch of squash blossoms! Such a pretty dish! 🙂
Can’t go wrong on pinakbet because it always have the beautiful colors. Good job, Peachy!
Wow thats so good for a first timer!
Pinakbet was the vers first dish I learned how to cook, now I forgot how! 😀
Beautiful pinakbet! I specially love the squash blossoms; I’m a tad obsessed with these beauties. :))
what a beautiful squash blossom you have here. I might just put it in a vase as decoration.nice. hihi.:)
I love your pakbet. I can taste the crispiness and freshness of the veggies..
What a beautiful stew…would love to try this 😀
Dear look amazing and delicious!!! love the colours!! gloria
I love Pinakbet and enjoyed your story! Glad to cook along with you on this KCC challenge! Go red,white, blue and yellow!
The colors and flavors in pinakbet made me a big fan of it!
Love your version with tomatoes, taro & squash blossoms! They made the pinakbet even more appetizing!
A colorful and delicious meal for a cause. Beautiful.
I haven’t tried cooking pinakbet with squash blossoms because they’re not available in the supermarket. I wish I could buy some so I can try cooking your version of this Ilocano vegetable dish. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Here’s my FTF entry: http://www.delightmyappetite.com/2011/09/food-trip-friday-mannang/
Nice color and great texture…..the veggies are still crunchy, just the way I like them…love it!
hi peachkitchen..what a delicious stew with lots of veggies and kfc chicken. you maust be anumber one fan of KFC LOL
Pinakbet- my late Lolo’s specialty dish, and one I always loved. I’m still working on perfecting my version, and may have to take some tips from you! This version looks wonderful.
what i’d like to know is who’s the first person who decided to eat a squash blossom? that never would’ve crossed my mind to do… 🙂
I love, love, love squash blossom! At home we don’t add it in Pinakbet, rather, we just make dinengdeng – squash blossoms, patola (cut lengthwise), and sitaw cooked in water seasoned with fish bagoong. Ang sarap! 🙂
I do believe you make a beautiful and delicious fully loaded pinakbet. I don’t get to make this a lot but I do like eating it. So appropriate to make an indigenous dish for the patriotic theme.
I guess Ilocanos have different versions of Pinakbet. My in-laws only include squash, snake beans, some pork and bagoong na isda. I personally prefer it cooked with shrimp paste. If there is no meat, in-laws substitute it with chicharon. Like you, I love eating it with something fried, either fried pork or fish.
Visiting via Weekend Eating and Food Friday.
LOL it’s funny how our parents can’t give compliments out loud. I love your pinakbet and the squash blossoms made it more beautiful. I think you passed the challenge 🙂
i love pinakbet. i would rather have that over chopsuey or any vegetable dish anytime….visiting late via FF:
http://www.cherryeveryday.com/2011/09/pancake-pancake/
Peachy, this is awesome for a first time and it’s fully loaded! I love the squash blossoms!
Peachy this is awesome for a first time and it’s fully loaded! I love the squash blossoms!