Sunday, October 03, 2004

Guinisang Mungo

There are days that I really crave for aunthentic Filipino dishes like this one. I grew up to be a skinny kid (yeah, right, what happened to me?). This is actually why I am very thankful that “Kodak” was discovered even before I was born..I have a proof that I was a “ting-ting” then. I was not a big eater but when my mother cooked this, I’d be the last person to leave the table. I liked it when my mother would sauté it in onions, garlic and tomatoes.

One thing I like when cooking mung beans is I like the pork belly fat cooked with the beans at the same time. (BELLY FAT??? Shhh). There is just something to it I cannot understand. Just set it aside when you don’t want it..okey?

Anyway, here’s what you need when you want to cook one yourself.

¾ cup of mung beans
¼ lb of pork belly
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
bundle of spinach
Fish sauce (Patis) to taste

In a deep saucepan, boil about six cups of water. Add the beans and the unsliced pork belly.

Once the mung beans is cooked, slice the pork into pieces. In a pan, heat the oil. Add the garlic and sauté until it turns into light brown. Add the onions and cook until onions become translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes. Saute the pork for about half a minute. Add the mung beans. Let boil. Season. Turn off stove and add the spinach. Cover pan and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Serve in a deep bowl. I had this with bagoong, sili and calamansi.