Mungo Guisado

030209_mungogusiado
Originally uploaded by CACTUSmango

I've been craving this for a long while and finally whipped up a batch yesterday. There is something so comforting and wholly satisfying about sitting down to a humble steaming bowl of mungo guisado.

I usually call my mom, for instructions, but since she's is in the Philippines right now, I had to suffice with following recipes I found online. You can easily make this a vegetarian dish and it will still will fill your tummy with goodness.

This is what I gathered online: Pre-boil the mung beans for about 30 min. Stir occasionaly to make sure the bottom doesn't burn. Sautee slices of pork in onions, garlic and tomatoes and patis (fish sauce) to taste. Stir in the cooked mung beans, along with as much broth as you want. I prefer my mungo to have lots of liquid. (Add shrimp and spinach) I would prefer to add kangkong leaves, but can't find them here in the desert. Serve over steamed rice or eat without rice. Enjoy!

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Vegetarian Roasted Baby Pig?

Vegetarian Roasted Baby Pig?
Originally uploaded by CACTUSmango

The only foods I can eat with the word baby in them are veggie in nature, like baby corn, baby portobellos, baby bamboo shoots, baby spinach, etc. Truthfully, I don't think I could eat actual roasted baby pig. Count me in the group of Filipinos that refuse to eat Balut. It just seems wrong. Even though I consider myself quite adventurous when it comes to eating fare from around the world, there's some foods that just elicit a confusing reaction that's both intriguing and disturbing.

During my highschool senior year, I explored the vegetarian diet. I wasn't a true vegetarian, since I ate eggs, cheese and seafood. I abstained from beef, pork and chicken. Which was a task considering mom makes the best Chicken Adobe, Sinigang, Kare Kare and Terrific. It was "Hello" to salads, garden burgers, tofu, and a lots of Taco Bell bean burritos. That year, I tricked a group of my carnivore buddies with Garden Burgers topped with all the regular burger fixings and treated my aunt & uncle with mock scrambled eggs, made with tofu. They were completely fooled as they gobbled every last bite.

While, I re-entered the ominvore population shortly after moving to the Philippines for college, I stil don't think that I would be even remotely brave enough to try the Vegetarian Roasted Baby Pig, had it been available. Who knows, someday, I may muster the courage to try this...but, for now, I'll stay away.