dinengdeng nga aba, stewed taro leaves/stems/roots

Aba. Gabi. Taro. Somewhat a staple root vegetable in Pinoy cuisine, specifically in Bicol where its stalks especially its leaves, fresh or dried, is prized for the hot (spiced with lots of chilis) and coconut-milky laing or ginataang gabi (cooked in coconut milk). Ilokano simply make dinengdeng nga aba (stewed,boiled in bugguong broth)or sour it as paksiw nga aba, stalks (stem), leaves and with the root (called corm; laman, bagas). Yes, we Ilokanos usually gather taro as a whole plant, pulling it out from its roots. Which is a no-no for some in Bicolandia as they retain the roots so that new stalks and leaves will grow for the next gathering/harvesting--they love and prize their taro plants that much that they can't afford to uproot it and eat it whole!

Aba for sale in a roadside talipapa in Gattaran, Cagayan.
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Aba with roots and stalks. And some tender leaves. The mature leaves of taro is not usually cooked as dinengdeng because it's itchy. 
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Panagdalus or panagimuri. This is how I clean and prepare the aba for my dinengdeng. I removed the thin peel of the stalks. Careful when cleaning taro stalks as the hands might got some itchiness, an allergic reaction to the sap. Use gloves or sprinkle salt on your hands to prevent getting itchy.
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The aba cooking in a pot. I boiled the bugguong first, put in some crushed ginger and garlic and some onions and then the cut aba stems and corm, plus some leaves. It's that simple. Cook the aba for some time and don't stir else it becomes itchy (on the mouth, especially on the throat!). Undercooked aba is also itchy, sometimes. Some old folks believe that not all can cook a not itchy dinengdeng nga aba. I tend to believe because there are some friends I know that never cook an aba dish because when they tried it, it so nabudo (nagatel, itchy)! But I believe more it's on the way you cook it, just cook it well and avoid stirring while the aba is being cooked. Meanwhile, besides plain dinengdeng, a more delicious dish is paksiw nga aba or soured. I made mine paksiw by adding little vinegar. Instant tamarind mix is also good. But if you have fresh tamarind fruit, use it instead. Green mangos is also a perfecty souring agent. As well as fresh pias (kamias). 
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Dinengdeng/paksiw nga aba done! Fortunately i've made it again--it's not that itchy although honestly the aba has made some parts of my hands red with itch. The broth is just minimal, thickened by the corm (root). Sagpaw or add-in is usually a must for this kind of dish, but I opted to make it just pure aba. You can add in dried or smoked paste in it, or even meat.
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This is my other aba dish I cooked months earlier: ginettaan nga aba (semi-laing in that it has bagas or corm. I used freshly squeezed coconut milk, not the canned one.
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Ginettaan nga aba and its usual partner in crime: sili! :-)
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Another dinengdeng/paksiw nga aba. Photo by Leilanie Adriano.
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Another laing dish. Photo from Ilokano Food.
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Yet another ginettaan nga aba, cooked dry and soured with pias.
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agurong in coconut milk con marunggay leaves

Agurong is a common black freshwater mollusk with elongated spiral shell usually found in abundance in creeks (waig) and rivers (karayan). We also call it leddangan in Nueva Vizcaya. It is similar in shape to the smaller and slender suso and the more smaller duriken. But agurong's meat is different from suso's or duriken's. Suso's is somewhat pumal-it or bittery. While duriken, well, you cannot even eat duriken's tiny meat as duriken is usually cracked and boiled or blanched just for its tasty, bittery soup. Nowadays, you can find agurong sold in the local markets, but suso shell is very rare. And I have yet to see a duriken for sale (when I was a young lad, in our place, we used to pick suso and duriken in a river nearby, and agurong in a creek a few meters away from our house).

Agurong is cooked in a variety of ways. It can be simply boiled in lots of tomatoes and gingers and onions and with baraniw (lemon grass) just like tukmem (bennek, dukkiang, or bukkaig; small freshwater clams).

And it's perfect in coconut milk as well, just like leddeg or bisukol (freshwater black shells). And usually, with marunggay leaves, just like marunggay in crabs cooked with coconut milk. Using getta (ccoconut milk) may not be exclusively Ilokano, by the way, as it is more identified with Bikol cuisine. But Ilokanos do also love getta like in ginettaan (another term is "sinursuran") nga aba or taro leaves/stalks/root/shoots cooked in coconut milk.

So here's how I came with my agurong in coconut milk with marunggay leaves. First of all, prepare agurong by washing and rinsing it throughly (you do arasaw, just like rinsing any shellfish) and repeatedly until the wash water is somewhat clear. See to it also that you discard any dead agurong (dead ones usually smell and float).

Next, the cutting . You have to cut off its "tail end," the apex of its spiral shell. This is so it is possible for you to suck the meat out later (through your mouth or lips; mind you, eating agurong is a "lips-to-lips" activity, although you can pick the meat out by using a toothpick or the thorn of the sua or pomelo tree). Severing off the tail will let air pass to easily extract the meat out when you sultop (suck out) it. Use a large enough knife or preferably a bolo because the agurong's shell is thick and kind of hard.

When you are through with the cutting, wash the shells again to discard shell bits and remnants.

Then, the cooking. At this juncture, we assume you already have made the coconut milk earlier and the getta (gata in Tagalog) is ready (or if you prefered instant gata mix, you already diluted the coconut milk powder in water). Boil the getta for some time. Do not boil all the mixture, separate some amount of milk (preferably the first squeezeful or the umuna a pespes [kakang gata in Tagalog], if you made it from fresh coconut), about a cupful will do. While boiling you can blend in sliced onions, crushed garlic, and crushed ginger. Afterwhich you can now add in the agurong shells. Cook until tender (but do not overcook the shell, else the meat will "kumuttong" or become "thin" or shrunken). Season with salt. Just before you serve, add in the marunggay leaves and pour in the reserved coconut milk. Do not overcook the marunggay.

Here's the end result:

Ahh, what a plenty of sweety oily and fragrant lips to kiss!

(Originally blogged December 17, 2008)

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