Pinakbet Recipe | Baguio City Guide to Cooking

You might have come across a pinakbet recipe or a pinakbet dish that is unique to a household in Baguio City. Since Baguio City is a melting pot of culture and it is proximate to the Ilocos region, Ilocano dishes are bountiful in the City of pines. Growing up in Baguio means learning the basics of a Pinakbet recipe and eventually evolving it into a recipe that you can call your own.

Pinakbet Recipe Varieties

Believe it or not, while Pinakbet is a simple vegetable stew with pork or shrimp or both, the pinakbet recipe varies in the variety of vegetables used and the cooking style. Go to different restaurants in Baguio City and order their pinakbet, chances are you will be getting different types of pinakbet.

Pinakbet Term

The word pinakbet came from the ilocano term pinakebbet which means shriveled or shrunk. Pinakbet is made up mainly of vegetables common in the Ilocos region and it is cooked until the vegetables start to shrivel.

Pinakbet Recipe Good for 2-4 persons

2 medium-sized eggplants

20 pieces long string beans cut about 2-inches long

6 pieces small-sized Okra

1 cup squash sliced about 1/4 inch thickness

1 medium-sized bitter gourd (Ampalaya)

2-4 pieces medium-sized red tomato

1 onion sliced

2 cloves of garlic

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger

1 cup small-sized shrimps

1 cup pork with fat cut into small cubes

1/2 cup of water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

1 1/2 tsp of Shrimp paste (alamang)

Pinakbet recipe preparation process

1. Wash the vegetables before cutting them.
2. Slice the eggplant about 1/4 inch thick, this allows for easier cooking of this vegetable. It also allows you to see if the eggplant has been infested by worms, if so cut that part and throw it away.
3. Inspect your long-string beans and check for holes, remove that part. Cut the edges and start cutting each string beans into about 2-inch size.
4. Cut the bitter gourd (ampalaya) in half, remove the seeds with a spoon then cut slice it thinly. When cutting apply some salt on your cutting board, this helps squeeze out the bitter juices of the bitter gourd. Once done, put the slices in a bowl again, add salt, mix and get a handful then squeeze. Most bitter gourds are too bitter that when added to the pinakbet it overpowers the flavor of the dish, at times the dish becomes unbearable to eat because of its bitterness. This is why we have to include this process to reduce the bitterness of this vegetable.
5. Cut the top of the okra, then cut it in half. When choosing the small ones are preferred rather than the big mature ones. This is because the mature ones tend to become more fibrous and really difficult to chew.
6. Cut the squash about 1/4 inch in thickness, this makes the squash easier to cook.
7. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and hollow out the seeds
8. Peel and thinly slice the onion.
9. Peel and mince the garlic
10. Cut the pork into small cubes.
11. While you can cook the shrimp as-is, peeling the body allows you to remove the intestinal tract of the shrimp.

Pinakbet Recipe and How to Cook it

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a pot. Put in the pork and mix until the fat has rendered.
2. Put in the garlic, onions, ginger, and tomato. Saute for about 30 seconds while mixing the ingredients together in the pot.
3. Put in the squash and mix until the squash starts to soften.
4. Next, put in the okra, bitter gourd, string beans, eggplant at about 30 seconds intervals.
5. Once all vegetables are in, cover the pot and simmer for 30 seconds, water should come from the vegetables, before adding 1 cup of water.
6. While it is simmering add the shrimps and shrimp paste (you can also add the shrimp and shrimp paste when you saute the onion, garlic, and tomatoes).
7. Add in the salt and pepper. Note that the shrimp paste is already salty so be careful in adding more salt to your dish.
8. Mix the dish and let it simmer for 5 minutes or until all ingredients are cooked. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables.

Pinakbet Recipe Plant-based Version

For those who are following a plant-based diet, the pinakbet can be transformed into a much healthier version. You can turn the pinakbet into a plant-based dish since the dish is composed mainly of vegetables.

How to cook plant-based pinakbet

Follow all the vegetable ingredients for the pinakbet, however, substitute meat with diced tofu. For seasoning, use only salt and pepper. The cooking process for pinakbet and plant-based pinakbet is the same, only that you have to fry the tofu until light brown.