Pinakbet Recipe by Carinderia - Filipino Free Recipes

Pinakbet according to Gilda Cordero-Fernando in Philippine Food and Life is a vegetable dish known all over the Philippines, but which no one cooks as deliciously as the Ilokanos. The Ilokanos say they can tell if a pinakbet was prepared by an Ilokano or not. Pampangos and Tagalogs cut ampalaya (bitter gourd), the main ingredient of pinakbet, into quarters and this, Ilokanos feel, allows too much water and salt in, which shrinks and toughens the vegetable. Ilokanos cut the ampalaya of their pinakbet lengthwise, and only on one side, leaving the opposite side uncut, like a hotdog bun, so that it opens like a hinge. In addition, Ilokanos include a bit of the stem in the last slice of the eggplant which is cut in four halfway through so it opens like a flower.

This recipe of pinakbet comes from Flavors of the Philippines by Glenda Rosales-Baretto.

300 g bagnet (pork crackling), sliced (see below)
2 tsp oil
2 tsp chopped ginger
1.5 tbsp crushed garlic
150 g shallots
500 g ripe tomatoes
75 ml bagoong isda (anchovy sauce), strained
150 g okra
150 g small ampalaya, quartered
300 g eggplants, sliced
Bagnet:
1 kilo pork belly (whole piece)
50 g crushed garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp sea salt
Heat the oil in a casserole and saute the ginger, garlic, shallots, tomatoes and pork crackling until the liquid has completely reduced, then add anchovy sauce. From this point on, do not stir.

Continue to simmer until the sauce is thick, then add the okra, ampalaya, and eggplant. Cover the casserole and cook for a further 5 minutes.

To make the bagnet, place the pork belly, garlic, bay leaves and salt in a pot. Add sufficient water to cover and cook for 1 hour. Remove pork and dry in a moderately hot oven for 20 minutes.

Deep fry pork in oil at low heat for at least 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes, then remove and allow to cool completely. To finish, re-heat oil until moderately hot and deep fry the pork until crisp and golden brown.

Pinakbet Recipe by: http://www.carinderia.net/archives/recipes/pinakbet.html