Pork with Tofu and Eggplant Binagoongan (Shrimp Paste)

Pork and Eggplant in Shrimp Paste

Mom got us some shrimp paste that she bought when she was in a vacation somewhere up north. I suddenly craved for something salty yet sweet. So I went to the market and bought some meat and tofu. I love tofu. If there’s gonna be an ambassadress for tofu, I should be the one! Lol. It doesn’t matter how you cook it – fried, steamed, grilled or even boiled, I will eat it! Lol.

This recipe is another famous Filipino dish. Primarily you need a shrimp paste which is made from fermented ground shrimp mixed with salt. You can find shrimp paste on any asian store as it is a really famous side dish mostly for the southeast asian cuisine. More often than not they are already bottled and pre-cooked or flavoured. But on this dish, I used a fresh one or the “pinkish” one because I want to be the one to flavour my paste. Lol.

By the way, you don’t necessarily need salt on this because the shrimp paste itself is salty enough to season or to give taste to the whole dish. So you may want to carefully check the amount of shrimp paste to put.

Ingredients:

1 kilo pork liempo (pork belly) cut in serving pieces1/2 cup shrimp pasteFirm tofu (cubed)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 small onion (chopped)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1 chili (chopped)
1/2 cup  vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large Chinese eggplant (cut in half inch slices)
Ground pepper or whole peppercorns

Method:

1. Pat dry tofu and fry. Set aside.

2. Place pork in a pan with just enough water and put into boil in slow heat for 30 minutes or until tender.

3. Let its oil render then start stir-frying until colour turns to light brown. Set aside.

4. Using its oil in the same pan, sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes and chili. Add the shrimp paste and stir for 5 minutes.

5. Add in the pork, vinegar, brown sugar and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add pepper according to taste

6. Place the eggplant, stir, cover and let it cook for another 5 minutes in low heat. Turn off the heat. Place the tofu and stir. Serve.

Enjoy!

Eggplant and Peas Curry

Eggplant and Peas Curry

I love Indian food because of their spices. I love putting spices on every dish I make. In my opinion, it gives a distinct difference that makes the dish more palatable. I’ve come to love indian spices because my Mom’s best friend is an Indian. When I was a kid I can very much remember how much Indian food had been served on the table whenever we visit their house.

I wanna share a vegetarian recipe. No. I am not a vegetarian but I love my vegetables. There are times that I would do no-meat for a week. And this is one of those days. Lol.

Ingredients:

2 large chinese eggplant (diced))

200g peas (green peas or chick peas)

2 medium tomatoes (halved)

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

4 leaves of basil (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon ginger (minced)

1 tablespoon oil

1 chili pepper (chopped)

1 1/2 cups of water

Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Sauté onions, tomatoes and ginger in oil.

2. Add in eggplant, curry powder, coriander and chill pepper. Stir for 2 minutes.

3. Add the water, salt and pepper. Let it simmer until eggplant is tender.

4. Stir in the peas and have it simmer for 4 minutes (I like that the peas have thickened the sauce)

5. Turn off heat and stir in the basil. Serve over steaming hot rice.

Enjoy!