Dinuguan
Ingredients
- 2 cups pig blood
- 1 cup vinegar (½ for mixing with pig's blood and ½ for cooking)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 big red onion (chopped)
- 2 pounds pork belly (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ½ tablespoon pepper
- 2 pieces bay leaves
- 1 cup water
- 4-6 pieces green long chili peppers
Instructions
- Mix ½ cup vinegar with pig’s blood. Set aside.
- In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic in oil until they become tender and aromatic.
- Add the pork belly to the pot and cook until the fat is rendered. Stir in fish sauce, bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper.
- Pour in the vinegar and let it simmer for 2 minutes without stirring.
- Stir in the blood and vinegar mixture continuously to prevent clumping. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Pour in the water and add the green long chili peppers. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover the pot with a lid, lower the heat to low, and cook until the pork is tender.
- Once the pork is tender, remove the lid and let the stew simmer for a few minutes to reach the desired sauce consistency.
- Turn off the heat and transfer the stew into serving bowls.
Details Behind My Dinuguan Recipe
Dinuguan Recipe – Dinuguan, a traditional Filipino dish, is a savory stew renowned for its distinctive flavor and rich cultural history. It derives its name from the Tagalog word ‘dugo,’ meaning blood, as the dish is cooked with pig’s blood. It is also known as “chocolate meat” or “blood pudding,” and referred to as ‘Dugo-dugo’ in Cebuano. In Pampanga, it goes by the name “Tid-tad,” signifying the small pieces into which pork offals are chopped before being added to the stew.
Dinuguan is traditionally prepared alongside a whole pork lechon, utilizing the removed innards and drained blood from the roasted pig. To make this dish, various cuts of pork and offal, including intestines, lungs, kidneys, and heart, are sautéed with garlic and onion. The mixture is then simmered in a blend of blood and vinegar until it transforms into a flavorful stew.
The addition of long green chili peppers imparts a delightful zing to the dish. For those who prefer to avoid offal, Dinuguan can still be made using regular cuts of pork, with pork belly being a popular choice for this recipe.
Dinuguan is commonly served with white rice or the Filipino rice cake, puto. It’s an unconventional stew but not the only one that uses blood. Like any other stew, there are different ways to make the dish.
Additional Notes for My Dinuguan Recipe
For the best results in this recipe, use pork belly, or you can opt for other boneless cuts like pork shoulder or pork butt, as long as there’s enough fat for flavor. Beef or chicken can also be used as alternatives. After adding the vinegar mixture, it’s important not to stir. Let it cook undisturbed until the acidity reduces to prevent the Dinuguan from getting too sour. When adding pork blood, it naturally thickens. Depending on your preference, you can stir continuously to avoid big clumps or let chunky bits form before stirring.
Storing Dinuguan leftovers is a straightforward process, thanks to the preserving properties of vinegar. The dish has a longer shelf life compared to other viands because of vinegar’s ability to prevent spoilage. To store any remaining Dinuguan, simply transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for several days to maintain its freshness and flavor.
Alternative Option for Dinuguan
There are different ways to enjoy the pig blood stew, and one of them is as Dinardaraan Ilocano. Dinardaraan Ilocano is a unique version of diniguan, made with various pig parts and meat simmered in a sauce of pig blood, garlic, chili, and vinegar. This dish shares similarities with European blood sausage and British and Irish black pudding. Besides Dinardaraan Ilocano, there are many ways to make diniguan.
If you’re unsure about using specific pig parts, you can use choice cuts of pork, chicken, or beef instead. Adding deep-fried pork intestine cracklings can provide extra flavor and texture. As long as the sauce’s key ingredients are present, diniguan can be customized and enjoyed in different ways, offering a diverse culinary experience.
Other Classic Stews to Try
In addition to dinuguan, there are a variety of classic stews to try in Filipino cuisine. One of them is Bicol Express. Otherwise known as sinilihan, which translates to spiced with chili, Bicol Express is one of many stew dishes to try in Filipino cuisine. The dish is native to Bikol but got popularized in the district of Malate, Manila.
The stew consists of long chili peppers or small chili peppers, coconut milk/coconut cream, shrimp paste or stockfish, onion, pork, ginger, and garlic. While Bicol Express generally involves pork, it does open to other variants that include seafood and beef. You can also explore other variations that cater to diets like pescatarian, vegetarian, and vegan. Depending on your choice of main in the stew though, the preparation may vary.
Other Pork Stews
If you want to try other pork stews, one option to try is pata tim. Pata Tim is a traditional Filipino pork dish known for slow-cooking a whole pork leg in a sweet and savory sauce made with soy sauce, black peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and star anise, sweetened with muscovado sugar.
The dish includes péchay (Chinese cabbage) and mushrooms for added flavor and texture. It’s important to mention that Pata Tim specifically involves pork hock; any version without it is considered a different dish. This flavorful and tender Filipino delicacy is a popular choice for those looking for a hearty and satisfying meal.
Alternative Stew Option
For a different type of set, you should check out gising gising. Gising-gising, also known as ginataang sigarilyas, is a delicious Filipino dish hailing from Nueva Ecija and Pampanga provinces. It’s a spicy vegetable soup featuring winged beans cooked in coconut milk with labuyo chili, garlic, onions, and bagoong alamang, its name meaning “wake up, wake up.”
Overall, there is no shortage of stews you can try in Filipino cuisine and many of them feature a variety of ingredients and cooking methods. If you want to explore more stews, one dish to check out is pochero.
