Kung Fu Cooking Pinakbet
The most popular dish of the Ilocanos is the Pinakbet, a nutritious vegetable dish. Pinakbet is rich in food value and tasty to the palate.
Cook Pinakbet this way:
6 medium sized eggplants
3 medium sized amargosos
8 strings young beans
1/10 kilo of tocino or pork
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons bagoong dilis
4 fresh tomatoes, sliced
6 young okra
8 stalks young garlic
1/2 inch ginger
1 teaspoon salt
Procedure:
Sort, wash, and drain all the vegetables. Slit the eggplants and amargosos length-wise without separating the pieces.
String and cut the beans into 5-inch lengths.
Cut the pork into 1 1/2-inch pieces.
Add a little water to one half of the bagoong and mash the mixture with one half of the sliced tomatoes.
Strain and set aside.
Fill the slit eggplants and amargosos with the remaining bagoong and tomatoes. Arrange them alternately in the bottom of a clay pot.
Add the rest of the bagoong and tomatoes, and the beans, okra, and young garlic.
Peel and cut the ginger into slices. Add this to the vegetables. Add the salt.
Cover the pot and let stand for five minutes.
Place over a fire; when the mixture boils, lower the heat. Cook until the vegetables have shrunk in size, but not in crispness.
Serve hot. Serves 5 to 6 persons.
Note:
When cooking Pinakbet, do not stir the vegetables. When it is almost done, shake the contents of the pot in an up-and-down motion to allow the vegetables at the bottom to go on top, and vice-versa.