Diningding (Filipino vegetable medley)

This is one of my favorite Filipino vegetable dishes. Thus one doesn’t have any meat and it is primarily flavored with fish sauce. I’ve also made it with pork or shrimp. But I didn’t put any meat in it this time since I was serving it as a veggie side to some meats.

Here’s how I made it.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2-3 skinny eggplants, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
• I bunch long beans, broken into 2-3 inch pieces
• 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil 

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as listed above (slice, chop, etc.)
2. Add oil to heated pot.
3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant.
4. Add onions and tomatoes. Stir until onions are translucent and tomatoes soften.
5. Add eggplant, long beans, fish sauce, and water. Bring to a simmer, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until eggplant has softened.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Instagram: @abundanceofvegetables

YouTube: youtube.com/@abundanceofvegetables

YouTube full video: https://youtu.be/puaBBVUz2lY?si=NGgwnNytlgdATKb9

See my other Diningding videos

Diningding with shrimp: https://www.instagram.com/p/B485XmsgvjI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Diningding with Marungay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g0KbWD4_3g

Dinengdeng with Marungay

I always knew it as marungay and was raised calling it that.  The scientific name for this plant is moringa oleifera.  It is a tree that my parents and grandparents always had in the backyard.  The leaves and fruits are edible.  I love the idea of gathering food from your backyard. 

I saw my aunt at a family gathering for Thanksgiving and she mentioned that she recently had a conversation with her friend about marungay and bone broth being very popular for the health benefits that they deliver.

I have seen a lot of ads about bone broth and collagen, but I didn't know that marungay was also being advertised as a super food. Her friend said that it's become so popular that baby marungay plants can now be found at the local Home Depot.

You know what my aunt's response to that was?  She thought that the popularity of bone broth and marungay was absurd.  Filipinos have been cooking and eating lauya for years!  If you don't know what lauya is, it's a brothy soup made with beef bones and marungay leaves.  Anyway, I just wanted to share that story because I thought it was funny.

While I was home for Thanksgiving, my grandma did a harvest from her yard and prepared some marungay fruits for me.  What a treat!  I was afraid I didn't know the recipe and I'm also learning that some vegetable combinations work better than others and some don't even match. LOL!  So I have to say that my grandma did give me some suggestions, but I added some other extra vegetables and it didn't match! LOL!  That's what I get when I don't listen.

So here is the recipe for what I created.  I think I wouldn't put the winged beans and eggplant next time.  My grandma also suggested ebi (dried shrimp), not raw shrimp. But the following is what I did for this dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
• 3 cups marungay, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces
• 4 small tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup raw shrimp, defrosted
• 2 eggplants, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 5 winged beans
• 1/4 cup onions, sliced

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as described above (chop, defrost, cut, etc.)
2. Add water to pot.
3. Add patis to pot and bring to a simmer.
4. Add marungay. 
5. Cover and simmer until about halfway cooked (about 20 minutes).
6. Add tomatoes, shrimp, eggplant, winged beans, and onions. 
7. Cover and simmer until cooked through (15 -  20 minutes), stirring halfway through. (My parents and grandparents do the pan-toss thing to mix it up. But I don't know how to do that, so I have to stir it.)
8. Serve.  (Eat marungay fruit by splitting open and scraping the soft insides out.  You don't eat the firm, fibrous outside.
9. Enjoy.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Dinengdeng with Marungay (sped up) 
YouTube post of this video: Dinengdeng with Marungay (Regular Speed)

Dinengdeng with Shrimp Experiment

I wasn't sure what the proper spelling was.  I had spelled it "diningding" before.  But when I did an internet search,  it returned results for both "diningding" and "dinengdeng", but mostly the latter.

From my understanding, this dish is essentially a mixture of vegetables simmered in a fish broth and topped with fish.  This version that I made is just squash as the vegetable and shrimp instead of fish.

Certain vegetables match better with each other.  I had a big squash, so I definitely wanted to use that.  I bought a a kabatiti (gourd) thinking that it might go well with this, but I wasn't sure.

I am of filipino descent, so I should know this.  But I don't.  I was born and raised in America and am Americanized.  I enjoy watching food shows and documentaries and they often mention old traditions, customs, and recipes being lost with the older generation.  This makes me think of myself.  I am slowly working on learning how to create authentic filipino dishes and need to learn as much as I can from my parents and grandparents.

So, I texted my dad up a storm asking him about my veggie combo selection.  His recommendation was to save the kabatiti when I cook eggplant and to call my mom because she knows better. Haha! 😂

My mom was busy when I called, so I just got started cooking.  I found out I put too much water because squash releases a lot of liquid when cooked.  She stayed on the phone with me for a while until I felt comfortable enough to hang up.  I sent them some pictures and they both said it looked good.  It was delicious!  I also gave some to my friend and she enjoyed it. Yay!

Here is my recipe.  You could use half the water and patis if you like it less soupy.  Take a look at my video to see how much liquid it made.

Ingredients:

• 1 squash, cleaned and cut up into bite-size pieces (approximately 8 cups)
• 1 small tomato, sliced into wedges
• 1/4 large onion, sliced (authentic filipino recommendation would be the little shallots)
• 1 cup of shrimp, peeled and de-veined 
• 1/3 cup patis
• 2 cups water

Instructions:

1. Bring water and patis to a boil.
2. Add onion, tomato, and squash to broth.  Cover and let simmer until translucent (about 10 minutes), stirring halfway through.
3. Add shrimp.  Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Serve.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Dinengdeng with Shrimp