Pinakbet

Name: Pinakbet
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: filipino
Ingredients: 1 pound slightly fatty pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1-inch pieces; Neutral oil, if necessary; 3 tablespoons patis (Filipino fish sauce), preferably Rufina; 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced; 2 ripe medium tomatoes, roughly chopped; 1 small yellow onion, diced; 3 Japanese eggplants (about 1 1/4 pounds total), cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 8 ounces baby okra, trimmed; 1 pound long beans (or string beans), trimmed and cut in half; 1 bitter melon (about 8 ounces), trimmed, cut lengthwise in half, seeded, then cut into 1-inch pieces; Cooked white rice, for serving

Recipe from Ricardo Garza

Adapted by Elyse Inamine

Updated Oct. 11, 2023

Pinakbet — Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Mariana Velásquez.

Total Time: 1 hour
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Rating: 4(79)
Comments: Read comments

Ricardo Garza, a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Station 8 in Honokaʻa, Hawaii, learned to make this Filipino stew, brimming with fatty pork, fishy patis and lots of vegetables (Japanese eggplant, baby okra, bitter melon) from his grandmother. He has now passed it on to his colleagues at Station 8, who are cooking and riffing on it. If you find winged beans, a favorite of Mr. Garza’s, go for it and use eight ounces each of winged beans and long beans (instead of one full pound of long beans). Just trim the winged beans, separate the pods and add them to the pinakbet with the bitter melon. —Elyse Inamine

Featured in: Hawaii’s ‘Local Food,’ a Rich Mix That Isn’t Strictly Hawaiian

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

1pound slightly fatty pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1-inch pieces
Neutral oil, if necessary
3tablespoons patis (Filipino fish sauce), preferably Rufina
3garlic cloves, minced
1(2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2ripe medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
1small yellow onion, diced
3Japanese eggplants (about 1¼ pounds total), cut into 1½-inch pieces
8ounces baby okra, trimmed
1pound long beans (or string beans), trimmed and cut in half
1bitter melon (about 8 ounces), trimmed, cut lengthwise in half, seeded, then cut into 1-inch pieces
Cooked white rice, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add the pork. (If there isn’t enough fat for the pork to start sizzling right away, add about 1 teaspoon oil.) Immediately add the patis, garlic and 2 slices ginger. Cook the pork, turning occasionally, until the pieces are well browned all over, 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 2
Stir in the tomatoes and onion. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add a few more slices of ginger and continue to cook until the tomatoes are soft, 6 to 8 minutes. If the mixture looks dry, add ½ to 1 cup of water.
Step 3
Stir in the eggplants and remaining ginger, cover and let simmer until the eggplant looks wrinkled and moist but is not fully cooked, 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 4
Stir in the okra and long beans, and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes. The mixture should look slightly soupy; add a little more water if liquid has evaporated.
Step 5
Stir in the bitter melon. Cover and continue simmering, adjusting the heat as necessary, until the long beans are cooked through but still have a slight crunch, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the freshness of the beans.
Step 6
Serve with rice.

Ratings

4 out of 5

79 user ratings

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Comments

Helen G1 year ago

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Cagayan Valley near Tuguegaro in the early 80s. When I cook pinakbet I don't use patis--you can't have pinakbet without bogoong. The bottom part when fermenting fish. (Patis is the top.) I usually use bagoong monamon, the brown kind. Take about 1/4 - 1/2 cup, add hot water and strain. When feeling adventurous I'll use bagoong alamang, the pink salted shrimp. Just add a few Tbs in step 2 before cooking tomatoes and onions. Brings back memories. Naimas!

Steve Muni1 year ago

If you can’t get or don’t like bitter melon, use fairly mature zucchini instead. Also, check the seasonings at the end adding some more patis (or whatever fish sauce you’re using) to taste.

Sonia9 months ago

Oddest pinakbet recipe ever. Pinakbet originates from my parents’ home province, Pangasinan. Traditional pinakbet is made with a bit of pork, more like 0.25 lbs, not 1 lb. Also, this recipe is devoid of two Filipino staples traditional in pinakbet: kabocha squash and bagoong alamang (fermented tiny shrimp, pink paste). Another weirdness is the length of the longbeans. They are best cut, cook more efficiently, and eaten more easily in 2-2.5 inch lengths. Pangasinanes add 10-12 pink shrimp.

Cookie6 months ago

I love pinakbet and my husband has learned to like it as well. Here are a couple of tips: - Shrimp - peeled or not, with or without the head - can be used instead of pork. We cannot eat pork anymore so this is my substitute. - Soaking sliced bitter melon in water and a bit of salt tones done the bitterness. - Take care in slicing vegetables in somewhat similar sizes so it all cooks evenly. - Take care cooking and stirring or you’ll end up with mush.

Diane K9 months ago

Made this today and it's great! I had some nice fresh Japanese eggplants but had to make a few substitutions. I used ground pork instead of cubed pork. My fish sauce was Thai fish sauce. Fresh okra at the store didn't look good, so had to use frozen. We don't have an Asian grocery, so used green beans and summer squash instead of long beans and bitter melon. We will make this again.

Sonia9 months ago

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