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Are you looking for ways to feed your family healthier meals without going over budget? Turn to regional Pinoy dishes for inspiration! Take this Ilocano dinengdeng recipe, for example. The classic stew calls for any vegetable you can find in your backyard. Or, you can use odds and ends from cooking other veggie-filled dishes. Have leftover fried tilapia or inihaw na bangus? Throw it into the soup for extra flavor, comfort, and heft. Tipid na, nutri-sarap pa!
This dinengdeng recipe is similar to another Ilocano dish, the more prominent pinakbet. They only differ via the fermented ingredient used in the base: bagoong isda or monamon (fish) for dinengdeng and bagoong alamang (shrimp) for pakbet.
As for the vegetables, there is no hard-and-fast rule on what you can include. Except the dish can take a different name if you add specific ingredients. Mix in kamote to sweeten the broth, and it becomes buridibod. Toss in some green papaya, patola, and ampalaya, and call it Southern Luzon’s bulanglang. Slide in some shrimp to transform it into the Visayan laswa. Go ahead and customize the recipe with whatever ingredient you have on hand!
Ingredients for Dinengdeng
- 4 cups water
- 1 pc onion, sliced
- 2 pcs small tomatoes, sliced
- 1 pc ginger
- 1 pc fried or grilled tilapia, cut into 4 portions
- 1 pc Knorr Pork Broth Cube
- 1 tbsp fish bagoong
- 1 cup sitaw (cut into 2-inch pieces)
- 2 pcs small eggplants
- 1 cup squash flowers (bulaklak ng kalabasa)
- 1-2 bundles saluyot, leaves picked
- salt, to taste
Dinengdeng Recipe With Saluyot
Step 1 :
Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add onions, tomatoes, and ginger.
Step 2:
Gently add fish and simmer mixture for 5 minutes. Remove fish and set aside.
Step 3
Add Knorr Pork Cube and fish bagoong. Stir until dissolved.
Step 4
Add sitaw and cook until tender. Add eggplants, bulaklak ng kalabasa, and saluyot. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Step 5
Return fish to the pot and season with salt. Serve hot.
Did you know that Agoo, La Union, celebrates the Dinengdeng Festival annually? The weeklong festivities happen at the height of summer when the freshness of most vegetables is at its peak. During one event, barangays showcase their unique version of the veggie stew. You can expect more than 100 dinengdeng recipe variations at the fiesta! Another highlight is the use of a banga to prepare the dish. It’s a traditional clay pot that cooks the veggies gingerly and helps bring out their natural sweetness. Want to join the fun this year?