Monggo Guisado

Sauteed Mung Bean

Monggo Guisado is a favorite dish to complement a lot of meat and fish dishes. It is usually made with Dahon ng Ampalaya(leaves of bitter melon plant or Amargoso leaves), and you can add pork if you want.

During Lent, we do away with pork and make it with shrimp and Tinapa(salted, dried and smoked fish).

If you can't find ampalaya(bitter melon) leaves, a few slices of ampalaya will do. This gives the dish it's slight bitter taste.

For a thick and creamy Mongo Guisado, take half of the boiled mung bean and put in a Blender or Food Processor - or if you have a Hand Blender stick, you can puree directly on the pan. You only need about half of it pureed.

Just make sure you blend it slowly and the stove's burner is turned off.

Monggo Bean

      YOUR SHOPPING LIST:

• Monggo Bean (Mung Bean)
• Ampalaya(Bitter Gourd or Bitter Melon)
• Pork
• Shrimp
• Tinapa

IN THE PANTRY:

• Patis (Fish Sauce)
• Garlic
• Onions
• Ground Pepper

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Monggo beans, soaked in water while prepping other ingredients
• 1/4 pound pork shoulder, cut in strips
• 1/4 pound shrimp, peeled and de veined
• 1 piece Tinapa, hand shredded, meat only
• 1/2 piece Ampalaya, enough to make 1 cup
• 3 tablespoons Patis(fish sauce)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5-6 cups water
• 1/4 cup cooking oil, for sauteing

Mongo Guisado

1    Boil the monggo bean with 4 cups of water until soft and tripled in volume.

2  Take half of the mix and put in the blender to puree.

3  In a separate pan, saute the garlic and onion. Add in the pork, ampalaya, patis, the boiled and blended monggo, but leaving out the liquid. Saute in the pan for 3 minutes.

4  Add in the liquid from the boiled monggo, and the rest of the water. Bring to a boil. If it's a little too creamy, add more water to your preference.

5  Stir in the shrimp and tinapa, cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6  Serve with steamed white rice and enjoy!

BENG'S TIPS

• The shrimp and Tinapa are added in the end so they don't get overcooked. Shrimps tend to be rubbery and the Tinapa will disintegrate when overcooked.
• For added flavor, pound the shrimp shell(shrimp meat not included), boil in water and strain. Use this to boil the monggo bean instead of using plain water.
• You can skip Step 2 if you don't want your Monggo Guisado to be thick and creamy.
• Some people add tomatoes during sauteing. I left out the tomatoes because the dish tend to spoil faster when cooked with tomatoes.
• For the Tinapa, I use the frozen Tinapa flakes easily found frozen in most Asian stores.

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