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

Garlic Fried Cauliflower Rice with Bangus

 

I got a craving for bangus. This was one of my favorite childhood dishes that my grandmother would cook. The bangus I purchased came pre-marinated with a vinegar flavor.

Filipinos also love their garlic fried rice. So to veggie it up, I used cauliflower rice. It’s not the same, I know. But sometimes you gotta try to be healthy and accept that this is the “rice” you’re going to eat.

Here’s how I made the Cauliflower Garlic Fried Rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag frozen riced cauliflower (12 ounces)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 10-12 cloves garlic, chopped 
• Dash of salt
• Scrunch of pepper (yes, I’m a fan of the pasta queen)

Instructions:

1. Empty contents of bag of cauliflower into large pan.
2. Stir for 5-7 minutes until defrosted and most moisture came out.
3. Add oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
4. Stir until incorporated.
5. Serve and enjoy!

As for the bangus, it came boneless and pre-marinated and is commonly sold in this fashion. Fry in oil to your desired brownness and crispiness. Drain excess oil, serve, and enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables

YouTube short: https://youtube.com/shorts/Y5b5ZBx58UM

YouTube full video: https://youtu.be/-oWrwqcSO-Q

Tortang Talong with Pork Panko

  

This is roasted eggplant with the skins peeled off, then coated in pork panko, air fried, and served with a tomato/fish sauce salsa.  This is a spin off the regular tortang talong dish with a delicious crispy crust.  

If you're interested in the regular tortang talong recipe, you can view it here: https://www.abundanceofvegetables.com/2020/06/tortang-talong-fire-roasted-battered.html

Here's the recipe for this pork panko version. I have not listed measurements for this as you use as much panko as you need to coat the amount of eggplants you'd like to cook.  The tomato/fish sauce salsa is optional, but is a traditional side to tortang talong.

 

Ingredients for eggplant:

• long eggplants
• pork panko 

Ingredients for tomato/fish sauce salsa:

• diced tomatoes
• fish sauce, to taste
  

Instructions:

1. Rinse eggplants.
2. Poke holes through eggplant skins, all around.
3. Air fry for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping halfway through.
   
4. Put eggplant in a closed container and let sweat for about 10 minutes.
5. Peel skins off eggplant and discard.
6. Flatten eggplant with a fork.
   
7. Coat eggplant with pork panko.
8. Lay pork panko coated eggplants in air fryer pan, making sure not to overlap. Lining your airfryer helps with sticking.
   
9. Air fry for 20 minutes at 400, flipping halfway through.
10. Serve with diced tomatoes and fish sauce.
    
11. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Tortang Talong with Pork Panko (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video:  Tortang Talong with Pork Panko (full video with captions)

Salmon Bone Sinigang

The weather has been rainy on and off.  Sometimes I want to go for a walk and then it rains and I change my mind and I hate it.  To me, a walk was never enjoyable in the rain.  It's messy and dirty, you're trying not to get wet, your sunglasses get fogged up, and if it's windy an umbrella doesn't help.

The worst experience I've ever had being out in the rain was during a bike tour in Bangkok, Thailand.  The first part of the tour was to go from the check-in point through the slums and highway to get to the dirty, polluted river.  I mean it was great to get to see a different part of the world.  But riding a bike through the dirty slum rain water on the roads was not pleasant at all.  I had that line of crap water all over my back from the rain splashing up from the back tire.

Anyway, enough about that.  Since it has been rainy and it's soup weather, I craved and wanted to make a filipino soup called sinigang.  My mother and grandmother made this and I had never took the time to learn how to cook this dish.  I called my mom and she went over the basics of the recipe.  She didn't suggest fish bones, but it was the cheapest cut in the store, I know there's still a lot of flesh left on them, and collagen from bones are good for hair, skin, and nails.  OMG, it was so good!

Ingredients:

• 3 small tomatoes, sliced
• 1 long eggplant, cut into 3-inch segments and halved
• 3 baby bok choy, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 3-inch piece of ginger, sliced
• 2 Tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
• 1 pound salmon bones
• 2 cups water (more or less depending on how watery you like it)

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as listed above (chop, slice, halve)
2. Place tomatoes, onions, ginger, fish bones, and patis into pot.  Cover and let cook until the natural liquids are released. (This allows you to gauge how much water to add)
3. Add eggplant, bok choy, and water. Cover and simmer until eggplant is cooked through.
4. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Salmon Bone Sinigang (short clip, sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Salmon Bone Sinigang (full video with closed captioning)

YouTube post of new video: Salmon Belly Sinigang (full video)

IG post of reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CaOm_URDm9p/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

YouTube post of new video: Mackerel Sinigang (full video)

Lumpia

You can fill lumpia with anything you want. I’ve made different varieties filled with ground turkey and vegetables, ground pork and vegetables, cheese, pastele, and bananas.

This recipe below is for a ground turkey and vegetables filling.

I have been craving this savory type of filipino lumpia for a while now.  There are filipino restaurants that serve this in Honolulu, where I reside, but the places I've been to have it sitting around and are soggy.

The sauce also doesn't come with as much garlic as I'd like or any garlic at all.  I am a garlic lover, so I put a lot in my version.  Also, my doctor recommended that I eat garlic raw or lightly cooked as it helps regulate blood pressure.  That's a win-win for me. The saying goes "If you want it done right, do it yourself."  So this way I do it is right for me. Do what's right for you.

My mom used to make these in large batches as appetizers for family gatherings.  I was her prep cook.  She would prepare a sample of how she wanted the vegetables cut, while I observed.  Then I'd follow and prepare the rest the same way as she moved on to cook another dish.  The carrots were cut into julienne strips and the cabbage was sliced into strips.

My mom taught us how to wrap the lumpia and keep it tight.  If you wrap it loosely, it will likely fall apart when cooking.  I have tried several brands of lumpia wrapper in round and square shapes.  My favorite is the Menlo brand because it is the easiest to peel apart.  It comes with pictures and instructions on how to wrap on the back of the package.  You can also watch my Instagram and YouTube videos to see how I wrap it.  The links are below.

My recipe makes about 100 lumpia.  I have never made a smaller batch but you can divide it if you want to make less.

Ingredients:

• 1 package ground turkey (16 oz)
• Sprinkle of salt to taste
• Sprinkle of pepper to taste
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 package bean sprouts (9 oz)
• 2 large carrots (cut into julienne strips)
• 1 medium cabbage (sliced into strips)
• 3 packages lumpia wrappers (peeled apart)
• Water for sealing lumpia
• Oil for frying

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as indicated above. (Rinse all, julienne carrots, slice cabbage, peel wrappers)
2. Brown ground turkey.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove meat from pan.
5. Stir fry vegetables.
6. Add soy sauce and mix well.
7. Add cooked ground turkey to cooked vegetables and mix well.
8. Put entire mixture in colander and put a bowl or pot underneath to catch excess liquid.
9. Let it cool completely.   If it's still warm, the wrapper will break.  I got impatient and made this mistake.
10. Wrap lumpia.
11. Fry in oil until crispy and golden brown, about 6 minutes.
12. Serve with sauce.

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 5 cloves garlic, chopped (DO NOT use preserved garlic.  This needs to be fresh)
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• Sprinkle of ground pepper

Instructions for Sauce:

1. Peel and chop garlic and place in serving bowl.
2. Add vinegar. 
3. Add ground pepper and stir.
4. Serve.

Ground Turkey & Veggies Lumpia

IG: @abundanceofvegetables

IG post of this video: Lumpia (sped up to fit IG time limit)
YouTube post of this video: Lumpia (regular speed with captions)

Ground Pork & Veggie Lumpia

YouTube short: https://youtube.com/shorts/oNh1eguMme0?feature=share

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/58xFao20jTY

Pinakbet (Filipino Vegetable Medley with Pork)

When I was younger, we'd have pinakbet for dinner from time to time.  The simplest way for me to describe pinakbet is a medley of vegetables and pork, simmered in a fish broth.

It always had bittermelon in the mix.  I felt like the bitterness always seeped through to the other vegetables. I hated bitter melon, so didn't like pinakbet. 

As I grew older, I became more open to new flavors and health benefits of various foods.  I learned that both the bitter melon leaves and fruit had health benefits for a variety of ailments.  I don't exactly know what the benefits are, but a quick internet search will return a lot of results.

I actually tried bitter melon tea and will eat a piece or two if it's already in the pinakbet.  But ultimately, it will never be my favorite.

Anyway, here is the recipe for my version.  I didn't add any bitter melon and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 kabatiti (gourd), peeled and sliced
• 1 eggplant, cut into 3-inch segments
• 10 long beans, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 4 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
• 5 cloves roasted garlic
• 1/4 large onion, sliced
• 3 ounces chicharron, sliced

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as indicated above (i.e. slice, cut, etc.)
2. Bring water and patis to a boil.
3. Add everything else, except the chicharron.
4. Cover and let simmer until vegetables cooked through (about 15 minutes), stirring halfway through.
5. Add chicharron.
6. Cover and let simmer to let the flavors mingle together (about 5 minutes), stirring halfway through.
7. Serve.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Pinakbet

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