IAMBRIGITTE : How To Cook Pork Binagoongan (with Eggplant)

Happy Sunday, my loves! Linggo na at hindi pa din ako nakakaligo, har har har. TMI, I know. Don't worry, I sponge bath twice a day and I don't have BO to begin with, so keribels! Hehehe! Pero honestly, I miss taking a bath, the normal way! But as per my doctor, dehins pa pede. I'll be seeing him on Thursday for my checkup and hopefully, he'll give me a go-signal after. Kaya I really wish that my wound heals fast. For that, I drink a lot of pineapple juice and I don't move as much. I also didn't insist on getting those waterproof plasters that I can wrap my wound with just to be able to take a bath since he said there are some cases na nagkakamoist yung wound. I try (hard) to be as obedient as possible. Tiis-tiis na muna.

And since it's still a weekend in this part of the world (oh yes, I am still in Pinas!) I'll be posting a recipe of one of my favorite dishes. Well, it became a favorite just recently. It all started when I began cooking it, hahaha! Kidding aside, this recipe is easy to follow and since this has vinegar, it will not get spoiled easily. Just put it inside the fridge and pop it in the microwave or heat it in a pan. Like the adobo, this dish becomes more delicious the longer you store it. Ika nga, mas matagal, mas sumasarap.

Ingredients:

garlic (as you can see, I love using loads of garlic in my cooking)

onion

tomatoes

pork

(can't remember which part, I wish I could say belly but I just noticed na merong kasamang buto dito sa photo hehe!)

shrimp paste

(I prefer using the cooked bagoong, the one you can buy in bottles like the one above. I like spicy food, hence the spicy variant. I think they also have sweet or the regular variants)

green chilli peppers

(some would prefer putting them whole but since I love the hint of spice, I slice them in diagonal like in the photo above)

sliced eggplant

(this is optional. I just love eating talong with bagoong so, why not?)

How to Cook:

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan and fry the sliced eggplant. Take it out as soon as it becomes soft. Set it aside.

2. On a separate pot, heat some cooking oil and sauté the garlic and onion.

3. Add in the tomatoes when the garlic starts to turn brown and the onions start to wilt.

Saute...saute...saute

5. Put in the pork and continue to sauté until the color turns brown

Saute...saute...saute

6. Add some water and let it boil.

7. Add vinegar. Remember not to stir, just let it boil and keep on tasting until the vinegar is already cooked. I am not really sure how to describe it, but you'll know that the vinegar is cooked if it doesn't taste bitter anymore. It will taste sour, but not too strong. (can please somebody help me describe? LOL)

8. Add the bagoong. As to how much bagoong, it depends on your liking. Try to put in little by little and just adjust according to your taste.

At this point, I realized I have way too much liquid and if I'll wait for even the half of it to evaporate, the meat will be too soggy. So I decided to take out more than half. Kaya remember, don't add too much water in the beginning. LESSON LEARNED.