Pinakbet / Pakbet

This is a well known dish in my province - Cagayan. Though Cagayan is called home of the Ibanags, the locality at present is not just a mix of Ibanag & Ilocano people, but there are other groups present as well like Itawis, Gaddang & other groups.  I even noticed last time I visited my place the emergence of Muslim community near Aparri. 

I observed, the way of cooking pinakbet also varies from house to house. Some will add crunch to this dish by adding pork chicharon, some will just drop all the ingredients right in the pot, simmer & that’s it! I believe we tend to carry with us our first cooking lesson we learned, which is surely in our own home.  And this is what I inherited from my parents.. this is how we cook pinakbet at home.

My brother has been longing me to cook this local dish and tonight I decided to satisfy his palate.  Most of the vegetables in this dish are imported from India. The bitter gourd at first glance seems different from that of what we have in the Philippines but I can say there’s no difference much on the taste except that this one is more bitter :)

Well enough with the prologue and lets list down the ingredients. This is just for two persons so if you need more serving, adjust the measurements accordingly.

• 1/2 kg tilapia (any fish you prefer may do), clean and cut into half.
• 1/8 kg eggplants, sliced into quarters
• 1/8 kg bitter gourd, sliced the same size as the eggplant
• 1/8 kg lady fingers (okra), trim both ends (tip & cap). [Tip I learn from my mother: Try to break the tip of the okra. If it breaks, then its good, but if not just throw it away as the pod is tough.  You don’t want to eat a stringy okra, right?]
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 1 head onion, sliced 
• Ginger, sliced into strips
• 3 cloves garlic, do not slice, leave as a whole
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/2 of bullion cube (vegetable flavor)
• 1/2 cup water
• Cooking oil
• You may add: Pumpkin / Squash. I opted not to incorporate this as the serving will be too much for me & bro.
• We sometimes add finger chilis (siling haba). I don’t know what variety is being sold in my province but believe me its not at all hot/spicy the chilis there. Unfortunately, here, chilis are way too much hot/spicy.

Since I do not eat pork meat, I will use fish instead. Even way back home we generally use fish, usually grilled fish called tangi in my dialect (tulingan in Tagalog).Cooking my way:

• Sprinkle the tilapia with salt.
• In a pan, heat some oil and fry the fish till golden brown. Set aside.
• In a casserole, heat about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Drop the garlic, ginger and onion, sauté until the garlic turns little brown.
• Add the sliced tomatoes and cook till it gets soft. Then drop all the remaining vegetables. Pour the fish sauce, stir fry for about 2 minutes just to let the vegetables absorb some of the sauce.
• Pour in the water, drop the bullion cube, close lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
• Check the taste, season with salt if necessary. Add on the top the fried tilapia, cover and simmer till the vegetables are cooked through.
• Serve immediately with jasmine rice.

Bitter or sweet?

You are in the vegetable section of a supermarket.. Lots of vegetables lined up waiting for you to pick. You see this long oblong green vegetable - Bitter Gourd (known as ampalaya among Filipinos, Karela among Indians, Goya in Japan)... Are you gonna buy one?

I guess ignoring Bitter Gourd is the common thing we do. Who would prefer bitter taste from a sweet one, right? Yes, bitter gourd as the name implies, has a bitter taste and in the top list among the veggies when it comes to bitterness.

Since childhood, I have been suffering from anemia, which means I have low level of iron. Believe me, years of taking iron supplement is quite strenuous. Really fed up of the rustic smell of the capsule.  I planned to reduce my intake from daily to lower dosage. But that means I have to get some nutrients from the food I am eating. And bitter gourd is just one among the vegetables that is rich in iron. We Ilocanos usually include it in pinakbet dish. Here's one dish though that uses this vegetable as the star in plate.

All you need:

• 1/2 kg bitter gourd, washed, cut into rings as shown in the below picture. If there are seeds, patiently remove.
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 head of onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped (or better grate)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Cooking oil
• Salt
• Some ground black pepper

Direction:

• In a pan, heat some oil and sauté the onion and galic.
• Add the diced tomato and cook until tomato has soften.
• Next, add the bitter gourd. Sprinkle some salt.  Cook till it soften but still a bit firm.
• Meanwhile, crack the eggs, add salt and pepper, beat and pour into the pan.
• Cook for another couple of minutes in a low heat (to avoid burning the eggs) just until the eggs are well done.
• Serve.

Enjoy eating!