various authentic, exotic, ilokano pinakbets

More on and about pinakbet, this time, I'll show/present/feature various concoction or variations, most of it I cooked myself, trying-hard to be an authentic ilokano-pinakbet creator, utilizing the Ilokano-ness in me, my ever finicky Ilokano taste (literally, that is) to produce what's I think is real and kind of exotic Ilokano dish, of this ever ubiquitous vegetable stew.

This is basic pinakbet with the basic ingredient there is: paria, tarong, kamatis, sili, okra, and no more. I even have two different tarongs here, both "native" ones: small rounded ones and "slim" elongated ones, which are the perfect, or even required, eggplants for pakbet. My paria is also the round ones, natively grown (not hybrid), so-called Ilocos ampalaya. 

Pinakbet with young garlic roots and leaves. This is a truly Ilocos pinakbet because of the presence of the young garlic (naganus a bawang). But I cooked this one (me, here in Cagayan), of course, having had the opportunity to be blessed with young garlic bundles being peddled on the talipapas along the highway in Nassiping, Gattaran town (in Cagayan; the vendors said it came right from Ilocos Norte). Naganus a bawang itself is made into a unique pinakbet a naganus a bawang, young root/bulb and leaves. In this particular pinakbet, I didn't cut the eggplant's pamurosan (stalk) because these are fruit so young and tender, almost busel (buds), and the tender stalk is edible as well. I just removed the hard sinewy part inside. Mind you, you can only find a tarong prepared that way in an Ilokano pinakbet or dinengdeng.

Very basic pinakbet cooked by my mother. Not sautéed, ever. And it has no sagpaw or parabaw (add-on/topping, fish or meat). With lots of tomatoes and ginger that almost fermented the veggies. You can see it has some pallang (winged bean). 

One the most palatable, most delicious pinakbet I've ever encountered, prepared and cooked by the folks of Currimao town in Ilocos Norte. It has generous amounts of kardis and patani beans in it that greatly enhanced its aroma and flavor. Plus native parda and tiny sweet peppers. And utong (string beans). Its thick broth is a delightful fusion of sweetness, sourness, bitterness and moderated bugguong saltiness only a genuine Ilokano cook can manufacture :-)

Pinakbet I made spicier with a dash of cracked peppercorns, and with lots of crushed ginger.

This one is a bit oily because I added a sizeable chunk of lechon kawali (imagining its the adorable bagnet/chicharon, hehe!)

I added bagas ti kamote (sweet potato/camote roots, also called kaong in some parts of Ilocos Norte) here in lieu of the karabasa (squash fruit preferred and popularized by Tagalog in their variant of pakbet). I used the native round tarong here, similar to balballosa (wild round eggplant). I topped it with fried tilapia fish. 

And this is my pinakbet with young marunggay pods/fruit (also called drumsticks), pallang and bagas ti kamote.

This is a pinakbet by Roger D. Ancheta of Camiling, Tarlac. Besides marunggay pods, it has the young singkamas (jicama) pods! Bunga ti singkamas is a favorite veggie of mine, I'm always craving for it nowadays that it has become a rarity. It's perfect for dinengdeng, solo or with pallang pods or with sabunganay (susop, banana blossoms), and soured with salamagi (tamarind) fruit, topped with broiled attasi (dalag, mudfish) or paltat (catfish). 

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more squash dinengdeng

Here are some more dinengdeng a karabasa (squash/calabash) from past cooking escapades. I am re-posting these photographs from my old blog and certain web forums (that explains the watermarks). I want you to take note of the "buto-buto" (that's the stamen, that resembles something, hence, the obvious name) in the flowers which I don't take out in the muri process (read my previous post on dinengdeng a karabasa). I took these shots with the seemingly ignored squash flower buto in prominence.

Squash flowers, stalks, shoots, fruit with utong pods.

And this one squash concoction show with confidence the versatility of this incredible veggie: that you can make a wholesome dinengdeng by combining one and/or all of its flower, tops, leaves, tendrils, stalks--young and tender ones, of course--and fruit, into one complete sumptuous Ilokano delicacy.

Squash flowers, stalks, shoots, and fruit with grilled bangus (milkfish).

And here's my favorite squash dish (photograph below), the pure and simple squash flower solo. No stalks/shoots/leaves, no fruit, nothing but the most edible of them all: the flower, just the flower picked fresh in the morning, sweating yet in cool dew droplets, no hot and harsh sunlight has glimpsed on it, not a bee or a butterfly has yet betrayed its sweetness, it's yours alone to pick and to cook with its pollen and nectar intact, and wallowing in its own honeyed juice, it's yours alone to devour and relish with pleasing gusto.

(Originally blogged May 21, 2008)

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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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utong tops stew/soup with dried shrimps

Utong (string beans or cowpea) is one of my favorite veggie. Sumptous, delicious greens. Be it fruit stewed or in soup, or in a crisp salad (boiled/blanched young fruit) with bugguong juice and tomato slices, or sautéed, or in its adobo version; or the bukel, seeds, the beans itself boiled or napabellad (napablad) sautéed in lots of garlic and onions and garnished with paria or marunggay or kalunay or camote or bilonak (also called kubay, alugbati in Tagalog) or talinum, and virtually all green leafy veggies you can imagine or can take in.

Utong. String beans, that is. pardon, but i'm not talking about the Tagalog utong (which, btw, is equally sumptous, they say).

And utong tops or shoots, of course. I usually dengdeng, stew, string bean tops as solo, without the usual partnership of other tops and green leaves. Although I also love it as a salad (bolied or blanched and tossed with bugguong and slices of tamatis (kamatis) and young lasona (shallot) (that's KBL of the Ilokanos--kamatis-bugguong-lasona). But I love the glorious soup out of it, the inherent sabeng or pas-eng--the distinct "aroma" akin to marunggay's or alukon's "fragrance" when cooked.

And when available, I add this great dried shrimp fry (called daing a kuros) to further enhance the flavor and aroma of the broth.

Flavor it with the preferred amount of bugguong. Make it that it won't become too salty. To moderate saltiness, put in just the right amount of bugguong so you won't need to add table salt. I don't add salt or patis to my dinengdengs. Bugguong itself is salt, so why add more salt?

Don't overcook the tops. Make it just as crispy and succulent as you would with the salad version. Optionally, you can add some slices of tomato just before you serve.

Here, isn't it heavenly--ambrosial--with that golden soup?

(Originally blogged October 20, 2008)

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