Dinuguan is a savory dish of pork belly mixed with pork blood simmered with vinegar. It’s usually paired with Puto (simmer down now, this should not to be confused with the Spanish word), a sweet rice cake. The duo is a popular tandem. The acidity of the dish can be complimented with the sweet taste of the puto. This recipe is my hubby’s grandma’s recipe. She’s been the best cook in our family and I’m blessed to have shared her cooking expertise… the original way of preparing traditional Tagalog cooking. A young 89 years of age, we fondly call her MOMMY DORY. I stayed as close to her recipe as I could, in fact I had to call her to be sure… and yeah she’s the FIERCEST one in the family.
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds pork belly, sliced
4 bay leaves
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 medium size onions
1 medium tomato, sliced (this is optional but Mommy Dory insist thattomato is the”
1 cup vinegar (you could add more at the dining table if you prefer the”sour” taste)
2 cups pork blood
1 cup soup stock
Preparation
1. In a wok, saute the garlic, onions and tomatoes. Add the sliced porkbelly and 3 cups of water. She tells me at this point that I should make sure the pork is tender. So if it’s not yet tender, add more water. She reminds me further not to add salt since it will not help in tenderizing the pork.
2. When the pork is tender, add the vinegar. Again she insists that I should write this in bold letters as to emphasize the point. “After adding the vinegar, DO NOT STIR until it boils”. It will be too sour if you stir while the vinegar is not thoroughly cooked/boiling.
3. Stir in the pork blood using a strainer to ensure consistency of the dish, removing any clumps. Keep on stirring until you have the desired thickness of the stew.
4. Season with salt but she suggests fish sauce, it tastes better.
5. Enjoy the dinuguan with puto… a perfect duo!
Credit: Foodista