Ramadan is finished and I’m missing it already. 🙁 After Ramadan, I haven’t cooked and baked a lot, maybe because I still have not made my schedule. There are lots of recipes waiting to be checked off but my mind is not yet set. I will start spending lots of time in the kitchen starting on Saturday. I’ve spent the whole weekend dining out and I think I gained weight again. But that’s fine; the important is I was happy with what I ate. 😀 I also went to a bookstore to check for some books and yes, the books I want to buy were available. But I did not buy them because I am waiting for my birthday to come so I’ll have gift for myself, haha! Well, my birthday is not near but I just want something to look forward to. 🙂
Anyway, since I have not cooked something new lately to share with you today, I am still sharing something new – PINAKBET (pronounced as it is: Pi-nak-bet). Pinakbet is a Filipino dish with mixed veggies like okra, squash, eggplants, bitter melon and string beans. We also add meat of our choice or shrimp and shrimp paste. Although it is a Filipino dish, which means it’s very common to be seen on our dining table, I’ve only eaten this twice and this is the third time – when I finally tried cooking one. As far as I can remember, my mom never tried cooking this; I don’t even know why. I think she did not like it or maybe she knows that my father doesn’t like it? I don’t have any idea. I’ve only tried this when I was still in school – when I was having lunch at school and I decided to buy Pinakbet for my lunch.
Pinakbet
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken, boneless, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 large eggplant, chopped
- 1 cup squash, chopped into 2×1 inch cubes
- 3 pieces large tomato, sliced
- 1 piece onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 6 to 8 pieces okra, sliced in half
- 1 bunch string beans, cut in 3 inches length
- 4 tbsp shrimp paste
- ½ cup water
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Sauté the garlic, ginger, onion, and tomato in hot oil.
- Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add in shrimp paste and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in water and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add squash and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add remaining veggies and simmer for another 5 minutes or until veggies are soft, but not mushy.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with white rice.
Note: If you are friends with bitter melon, add 1 medium sized (thinly sliced) and add in step # 6.
Source recipe: Pinakbet by Panlasang Pinoy
