Pinakbet

By Gil Pena from Pena Farm

Serves 10

Ingredients

1 lb pork belly

5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 each yellow onion, sliced thin

2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced

1 1/2 lbs (4 cups) large cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 lb (1 cup) fresh lima beans, shucked

1/4 cup fish sauce, E-Mars Brand - Lingayen Boneless Fish Sauce recommended

2-3 lbs small Japanese eggplant, quartered

1 lb long beans, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 lb okra, whole

1/2 lb baby bitter melon, halved

1/2 lb (2 cups) wing beans, halved

10 cups steamed white rice

Directions

In a medium saucepan, cover the pork belly halfway up with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook about 25 minutes until the skin is tender.

Remove the pork from the liquid and cool to room temperature.

Separate the skin from the meat. Chop both skin and meat into bite-sized pieces and keep separate.

In a large pot, over medium heat, cook the pork skin until it gets brown and crispy and releases fat into the pot. Add the chopped meat and cook until brown.

Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the ginger and onion and continue cooking until soft.

Add the tomatoes, lima beans and fish sauce, cover and cook about 5-10 minutes, until the beans are soft.

Add 1/2 cup water and eggplant and cook 2 minutes.

Add the long beans, okra, bitter melon, and wing beans and cook another 15 minutes until everything is tender, tossing (not stirring) the vegetables every 5 minutes.

Serve over steamed rice.

Recipe edited by Sarah Burchard

In this episode we learn Gil Pena’s immigration story from the Philippines and his family’s recipe for Pinakbet.