pinabelllad a balatong

Pinabellad or pinablad, boiled, or literally, enlarged.

One time, n a rather cloudy day with bits of rainshower, as in cold day, quite unusual on the onset of summer but a perfect day to boil some balatong because pinablad a balatong is usually a great appetizer on rainy or cold days.

This is just plain pinabellad a balatong sauteed in little cooking oil and garlic and onions, and then topped with some greens, marunggay and uggot ti kabatiti:

The plainest and simplest there is, without sagpaw (add-on), no grilled or fried fish or meat, just some leaves, this is the way most Ilokanos prefer it:

And this one, with repolio:

Ilokano simplicity and frugality at its best!

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More balatong dishes:

• Pinablad a balatong a nalaokan iti ubog ti way, mongo beans soup with rattan bud/shoot

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papait salad ken dinengdeng

Pait time, again, and this time, let’s enjoy probably the bitterest, the kapapaitan, of them all: papait itself (mollugo oppositifolia; malagoso or sarsalida in Tagalog; it has a name in English, too, it’s slender carpetweed).

I usually just blanch papait and turn it into a salad with KBL (kamatis, bugguong, lasona) to serve as an appetizer or a side dish to meat (especially adobo) dishes (though, for me, I can live with papait salad as a sole viand to my steamed rice):

But of course, as a vegetable, papait is also good for dinengdeng, best with legumes like balatong, kardis, and patani here:

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More papait certified delicious dishes:

• Bitter is better: papait salad appetizer

• Papait a naigisa iti itlog, papait omellette

  

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kardis, alukon, sabong-karabasa, kalunay

Mangantayo manen! Come, let's eat, once all over again, share with me this another dinengdeng, this bugguong-flavored quartet of usual but exquisite Ilokano vegetables.

This is a pretty of veggies in that it has legumes (kardis), blossoms (alukon and karabasa), and green leaves (kalunay), stewed in fine bugguong essence and graced with dried shrimps (kuros):

So delicious, so Ilokano!

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More dinengdeng stories!

• Dinengdeng, glorious dinengdeng!

• Dinengdeng a bunga ti singkamas, jicama fruit stew

• Dinengdeng a rabong ken saluyot, bamboo shoot and saluyot stew

• Dinengdeng a sabunganay, banana blossom stew

• Dinengdeng a marunggay with kaggo, marunggay leaves and clam soup

• Fresh veggies for dinengdeng in Casantolan

• Dinengdeng nga uong-mais ken uggot-marunggay, wild mushrooms and marunggay leaves

• Dinengdeng a lalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon stew

• Dinengdeng a nalabbaga a katuday, purple katuday stew

• Dinengdeng/buridibod nga ube, purple yam stew with veggies

• Dinengdeng/buridibod nga ube (puraw), white yam stew with veggies and fried fish

• Dinengdeng with tinapa (smoked mackerel)

• Dinengdeng a katuday

• Dinengdeng a bunga, sabong ken uggot ti kabatiti, kabatiti tops, flower and fruit dinengdeng

• Solo a dinengdeng a marunggay

• Dinengdeng a kardis

• Dinengdeng a daludal, sagibsib, taro shoots/suckers

• Dinengdeng a saluyot ken tarong

• Dinengdeng a saba! banana/plantain stew

• Dinengdeng nga aba, stewed taro leaves/stems/roots

• Dinengdeng once more, because one can live in dinengdeng alone

• Baradibud a tugi, lesser yam vegetable stew

• Dinengdeng a saluyot and rabong variation--with bulong-sili, kalunay and utong

• Buridibod yet again: camote, petchay and alukon

• Dinengdeng/inabraw, more, once more

• Inabraw nga alukon/alukon leaves stew

• Buridibod, buribod, baradibod: camote with alukon and marunggay stew

• Dinengdeng a karabasa ken utong, squash goodies and string beans stew

• Dinengdeng nga uong ken lantong-utong, wild mushroom with young bean stalks/shoots

• Dinengdeng a paltong ti utong, utong tops stew/soup with dried shrimps

• Dinengdeng a langka ken pallang, jackfruit and winged bean stew

• Dinengdeng a patani ken sabong-karabasa, lima beans and squash flowers stew

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mongo beans soup with rattan bud/shoot

Boiled balatong (mongo, mung beans), sautéed with lots of onions and garlic, is one stable Filipino viand especially preferred during rainy and cold days. Paired with a variety of other vegetables (specially green leafy veggies) and meat and fish sagpaws (add-on), it’s one appetizing dish to go with steamed rice. A favorite companion vegetable is usually the leaves or fruit of paria (amargoso, ampalaya, bitter melon) as the bitterness of it is just a perfect flavor of the exotic kind to blend with the starchy balatong.

And speaking of exotic bitterness, here’s a bunch of ubog ti way (rattan bud/shoot) to offer just that bitterness:

Peeling of the stalks of the shoots:

And there’s the boiled balatong ready:

The ubog now cut and ready:

The sautéed balatong now being boiled with the ubog ti way:

And it’s done, here’s one bean soup with a touch of exoticness, bitter but so delicious and comforting:

See more ubog recipes:

• Ubog ti way, rattan bud (heart)
• Kalalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon

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kardis, kadyos, pigeon peas

Dinengdeng a kardis with saluyot. [Photo from Sikat ang Camiling]

Kardis (kadyos, pigeon pea, also called "pusi" in Ilocos region when dried), is an important vegetable legume all throughout the Philippines, in either its young pod or its dried seeds.It is the "K" in the popular KBL dish in the Visayas, the kadyos-baboy-langka combination of a dish of boiled pork knuckles and/or hocks. Ilokanos simply make the young pods and seeds into a dinengdeng with leafy greens or other legumes. The pusi is also simply boiled (pinablad) with meat or dried fish, like balatong or other beans.

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patani ken sabong-karabasa, lima beans and squash flowers stew

Yet another dinengdeng!  Yes, and this is a part of what would be a series of posts dedicated to the venerable Ilokano vegetable dish dinengdeng.

And this time, it's a medley of my favorite dinengdeng goods: sabong ti karabasa (squash flower) and patani (lima bean, also called java and burma bean), and with the ever-crisp pallang (winged bean).

The patani here is the white "flat bean" variety and not the rounded or "fragrant" ones. This is my favorite patani as its immature seeds are so sweet and its young pods is also good.

The beans are yet young and tender and so I don't need to peel off the seed's skin.

I boiled the beans first (in the bugguong broth) as it takes time for them to soften. When it's cooked or partially cooked, I added in the pallang. And then, a few minutes afterwards, the squash flower. The pallang and the sabong-karabasa should not be overcooked to retain sweetness, crispness and succulence.

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langka/jackfruit and pallang/winged bean dinengdeng

Langka (or anangka; jackfruit) is one of my favorite fruits, not just when it's ripe but most especially when the fruit is yet young and tender which is usually used/prepared as a "vegetable." Young jackfruit as a vegetable is not exclusively Ilokano as it is prepared and cooked in a variety of ways in the Philippines. Bicolanos love to cook it in coconut milk and chilis just like Bicol Express. In the Visayas, it is boiled with pork hocks or knuckles and kardis (kadios, pigeon pea). And it's great with sinigang be it meat (pork, beef) or fish. Ilokanos add it in their pinablad (boiled balatong, utong, pusi and other dried beans). It's also simply sautéed in oil with pork or chicken. And of course, as a dinengdeng with (or without) other veggies. I also love boiled langka as a salad, with KBL (kamatis-bugguong-lasona). I particularly prefer a solo dinengdeng a langka, stewed dry in bugguong and with kamatis (tamatis, tomato). I also stew it with young salamagi (tamarind) fruit whenever available.

One vegetable I love to pair with langka is pallang (winged bean). They'll be a great combination for a dinengdeng especially when lightly soured with kamatis or salamagi. Pallang as a solo dinengdeng soured with salamagi is also a favorite.

A "native" pallang.

Another variety (hybrid) of pallang called "puraw a pallang" ("white pallang")

And here's my dinengdeng a langka ken pallang. I cooked it somewhat dry with just a little but very tasty and delicious broth. The immature seeds of langka is sweet (the mature seed of the ripe fruit, meanwhile, is also edible and makes a great merienda when boiled, it tastes nutty like peanut):

Great with steamed rice suffused with a little cooking/palm oil!

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parda salad

Parda (dolichos lablab; bataw in Tagalog) is unmistakably GI--genuinely Ilokano veggie prominent in Ilocos cuisine, at least, and but specially among simple Ilokano dishes and viands of the almost vegan kind. Parda is versatile in that the young pods of it can go with your usual dinengdeng of green leafy veggies. Its young and/or not so mature beans is also edible and it is as palatable and as promising as patani (lima beans), kardis or pusi, utong, balatong, etc.

(Photograph above is our parda plant in my place in Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya.)

For me, aside from the main parda courses, when I want a quick fix of it, I simply blanch/boil it in a few minutes and make it into a parda salad with the inevitable tomato slices and bugguong (and some young onions, to complete the KBL). Just don't overboil it, a blanch is all that you need to assure you of its crispness and sweetness. Parda salad is most delicious and effective--like most veggies intended for ensalada/kinilnat/linayet--if it's freshly picked. So if you have a parda plant right where you are, set some water to boil  first, then go pick parda in the vine, muri it, then blanch it immediately when the water is bubbling, enjoy the ensalada. But freshly picked ones are also abundant in the local markets if you're that early.

Goes best with steaming rice and some oil (vegetable, palm of cooking oil) for labay.

(Originaly blogged January 24, 2010)

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dinengdeng, glorious dinengdeng!

Dinengdeng (also inabraw [although inabraw is more often referred to on veggie leaves, as in inabraw a saluyot or inabraw a marunggi, etc.]; vegetable, fruit and/or leaves boiled/stewed in/with bugguong) is a staple in every Ilokano home or community (be it in his house or in any dining place like in a summer picnic by the river, in a lunch in a pakarso (cogon shade) in the rice fields or farmland,or in a big, festive occasion). It might be the main dish or viand to go with the innapuy (steamed rice), or as a companion dish with meat dishes like  adobo, lechon, caldereta or the inevitable pinapaitan or sinanglaw or sangkutsar, the presence of dinengdeng is a must as it somehow "balances" the food between what's said as "healthy" and what's "unhealthy," serving more as an appetizer of sorts if more fatty or oily or meaty dishes are on the table. But oftentimes, the dinengdeng is more preferred, the "most attacked," especially by those who are conscious of their "heart" or "liver"or of their waistlines.

I'm a typical Ilokano who can't live without dinengdeng or any dish with bugguong. I see to it that I always have to eat veggies especially greens not primarily because of health concerns but because I'm used to it as I was raised as a "dinengdeng addict" (although, of course, I cannot be considered a vegan for that matter, for I also love meat). Be it a simple dinengdeng or inabraw of saluyot and marunggay leaves with or without any sagpaw (add-on fish or meat), or even a solo fare of kalunay or kuantong, or alukon leaves, or utong tops, or karabasa flowers.

Now, here are some of my favorite dinengdengs that I cooked and consumed with gusto over the years:

This is a dinengdeng a tarong (eggplant), kalunay (spinach), patani (lima beans). You'll love this combination, the eggplant fruit here is called "marabusel" or "agadi iti busel"-- very young and very tender, still budding fruit; and the patani here is freshly picked from the vine and is very young you don't need to ukisan or peel off its skin (this is my favorite kind of patani, the one with a larger fruit with "flat" beans; another kind of patani is what we call as "perkolis" in Nueva Vizcaya, which has smaller pod and rounded beans; another one is the "nabanglo a patani" which has flat beans and kind of "fragrant" when cooked); the spinach here are the larger ones and not the "native" ones that grow wild, though; but it's still kalunay.

Patani still and now with alukon flowers. I adore patani as I grew with it and it was a favorite bean of mine as a child because my mother then (and until now) has a lot of patani vines that climb the shrubberies and trees in our yard. The young pods of the patani is also edible and it can go with the young beans in a hearty dinengdeng. The mature beans is also perfect for pinablad (boiled) like mung beans or cowpeas. As a child, we also love to grill patani over the fire, the roasted bean is very delicious! You gather patani fruits and roast the whole fruit, then open them and eat the cooked beans while piping hot.

This is a buridibod variation. Still, with the bagas ti kamote (camote, or sweet potato) as a main ingredient, with alukon flowers, and with kabatiti fruit and tarong. The blend is doubly sweet because of the camote and the kabatiti.

This is a medley of tarong, kuantong (native/wild spinach or amaranth), and paria (ampalaya, bitter melon) fruit.

And here's young kardis (kadios, pigeon peas) beans, with kuantong, tarong and paria.

Yet another tarong, paria and patani variation, with kabatiti. Some may shun a paria & kabatiti combination as the paria's bitterness may overwhelm the kabatiti. But I love them both in my dinengdengs. I simply don't put in the two at once in the pot, but at a time, I put the kabatiti first, cook it for a while and then afterwards, I put in the paria--it is the kabatiti's sweetness now that overwhelms the bitter paria. Also, don't overcook the paria. And slice your paria thinly crosswise and not length-wise for it to cook evenly minimizing its bitterness.

Utong (sitaw in Tagalog, cowpea) fruit and tarong and again paria & kabatiti. You might notice that I add in tomato slices in some of my dinengdeng and you might wonder (as some folks don't ever put in kamatis in their dinengdeng, something like a taboo for them). I just love it because for me, for my distinct taste buds, anyway, kamatis adds a little "sweet & sour" to the dinengdeng. I compare it to blanched or boiled veggies (kinilnat or nilambong or ensalada) with KBL (kamatis-bugguong-lasona). I add kamatis slices especially when I cook dinengdeng ala-ensalada--that is cooked just right and not overcooked but not undercooked, with the veggies just crisp but succulent. Needless to say, I also "spice" my dinengdengs with few onion slices or if available, young onions/shallots with leaves (the young garlic would be greater for this end!), for "aroma" purposes.

This my favorite utong variety, the ones which grow as small shrub, its fruit not "yard-long," and doesn't climb (not a vine, saan nga agkalatkat, I forgot the local name). Its young fruit and beans are perfect for dinengdeng, it has this unique veggie sweetness especially if the fruit is freshly picked. And here, look at what I added--it's papait! Instead of paria, I added the more bitter papait and the result is is a perfect "bittersweet" blend. But anyway, papait is not that overly bitter when added to a dinengdeng. Put it in the pot as the last ingredient just some minutes before you put off the fire or adaw (get it off the fire) the dinengdeng. Just wilt it quick and serve it atop the dinengdeng. In this particular dinengdeng, I added as sagpaw dried shrimp fry (daing a kuros). You might also notice that my dinengdengs here are mostly without sagpaw (grilled or fried or dried or salted fish or meat). Well, I only put sagpaw when there's available. But usually, I prefer mine to be a "hardcore" dinengdeng--pure veggies and bugguong without fish or meat.

To dinengdeng, then be the glory!


And for more dinengdengs: 

• dinengdeng/inabraw, more, once more (part 2)
• dinengdeng once more, because one can live in dinengdeng alone (part 3) 

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karabasa & utong, squash goodies and string beans stew

This is my usual dinengdeng. Simple, fast, easy, delicious way of cooking veggies with bugguong.

Used here are flowers, tops and fruit of the karabasa (squash), and utong (young string beans, not to be mistaken to mean the Tagalog word).

First things first, the muri or the process of taking or picking out the non-essentials. These are the "beginnings" and "ends" of the string beans and squash tops and flower stalks, which are cut, and with the squash tops "skinned," its stem's hairy peel removed and its coarse leaves "crumpled" (like paper, to neutralize its roughness). And the peeling and gutting and cubing of the squash fruit. And the "deflowering" by removing the sepals and stamens or pistils of the squash flower. But when I muri squash flowers, I do not remove the yellow, pollen-crusted stamen or the "buto-buto." Traditionally, this is a non-essential part of this edible flower and is therefore mercilessly severed ala-Lorena Bobbitt (remember her?) and discarded and thrown away as if it is an odious and evil thing. Some say it is bitter. But not for me, I like the bittery sweetness of the squash buto-buto. For one, it should not be removed so as to prevent the oozing out of the precious nectar pool at its base. This nectar naturally sweetens the broth later. Remove only the buto-buto when it is inevitable as in some extreme cases when it is already rotten or when the base was infested by some worms. So when you muri the flower, check the stamen base for some nasty unsightly creatures. But spare the buto. You'll never regret saving it. It's so heavenly sweet and so wickedly yummy, delicious, the buto is.

Now, to the cooking of the dinengdeng!

The standard Ilokano way of stewing veggies or boiling veggies, dinengdeng and inabraw, is boiling water in a pot and then the obligatory panamguong (panamagbugguong) process.

As much as possible, use "real" bugguong. I mean the one with the rotting, errrr, fermenting fishes intact in it, the munamon, the mataan, and the tirong variety are the most preferred. Not the "instant" bottled or canned liquefied bugguong paste or sauce. Using an instant bugguong denies you a great chance of the noble task of making a hearty and splendid dinengdeng. If you want to really labor and savor the Ilokano dinengdeng, do the panagbugguong act called segseg--the process of extracting the essence of the bugguong into your dinengdeng broth. You put some bugguong, both fish and sauce, in a malukong (bowl) and ladle some boiling water into it and then, with careful and gentle tapping of the ladle's lip against the bugguong paste, extricate flesh from fishbone, mash into a puree-like mush, make it pulpy to extract the soul of the bugguong out of its fleshy and earthly corpus. And then separate and segregate pulped and mashed fishbone from liquid by carefully pouring the puree back into the bubling pot. Be very, very careful of this required calculated pouring act lest some tiny bits of fishbone escape and fall into the broth--it will spoil the entirety of the dinengdeng if there are tiny spurs in it, nobody will ever love a "kasegsegseg a dinengdeng" as it will cause an unpleasant irritation in the mouth and palate.

And then, and then, and then, boil the bugguong broth some more to eradicate its "angdod" or raw smell. Then put in the cubed squash fruit first and let some time to simmer for it to soften. If you prefer, you can put in a crushed "teeth" of garlic and some slices of fresh onion for aroma and flavor. After which, put in the string beans. Cook it some more. Finally, a minute or two before you serve it, put in the squash shoots (tops) and flowers. At this juncture, you can slip some tomato slices in the broth to moderate the salty greed of the bugguong, enhancing the flavor. The flowers should not be overcooked. Cook it just enough for the sweetness of the nectar in its ovule to blend with the broth. Serve immediately while piping hot, scoop up the squash flowers and tops and place atop the heap to prevent over-wilting, eat at once to take advantage of its sweet crisp succulence.

(Originally posted November 4, 2006)

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