Ginisang Monggo with Pork and Ampalaya
For our friends who dislike pork, alternatively, we can replace it with chicken, and the process of cooking our viand is just the same (except for the part where we cook the pork until it produces its oil).
The mung bean, monggo, or munggo, also known as green gram, is high in protein, carbohydrates, and many vitamins and minerals per 100 grams of servings.
Because of that fact, many food companies are now taking the “initiative” of processing it as meat and egg alternatives.
But why would you want to eat processed food when you can savour its deliciousness and nutrients without adulterating its natural properties?
I don’t know about you, but for me, I don’t want to eat something that their creator says, “it tastes and feels like it is in your mouth, but it’s not actually what you think it is.”
I have nothing against innovations. But if someone applies it to the foods we intake, plus the fact that we don’t know how they are making it and just saying that they’re creating a “lab-grown egg and meat with 30% or less mung bean” for human consumption, that bothers me.
But, you didn’t come here for my jabbering talk, so enough with that. My apologies. :)
Going back to our recipe topic
Well, to describe it plainly, it’s easy. You don’t even need special skills to cook our viand.
What you need is a little bit of knowledge to prepare and cook the savoury mung bean dish. And HeartyTongue is here to help you with that.
When you start to have the basic know-how, you’ll be amazed at how many Ginisang Monggo variations you can make.
Traditionally, a variant of the recipe is cooked on Fridays of Lent when certain religious sects abstain from eating meat. It meant cooking it with fish or prawns instead.
That explains why you might have heard someone saying that the Ginisang Monggo recipe is for Fridays.
For now, we’ll leave the traditions behind and go with the ingredients of Pork and Ampalaya variation.
Kitchen Tools you will Need
- Frying pan
- Pot with lid
- Cooking spatula and spoon
- Chopping board and knife
- Measuring spoons and cup
- Your trusted stove
Now that we have the tools let’s check out the ingredients and instructions on How to Cook Ginisang Monggo with Pork and Ampalaya.
Although the Ginisang Monggo with Pork and Ampalaya is best served hot in the cold seasons, we can break traditions. You can cook and serve it any time of the day and any day of the year.
- 125 g Monggo, Munggo, Green Gram or Mung Beans (They are sold in 250 grams per pack on local groceries and supermarkets. We’ll only cook half of it.)
- 100 g Pork with fat (Sliced for sautéing.)
- 75 g Medium-sized Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd) (Clean, scoop out the seeds and slice.)
- 200 g Fried Tofu (Tokwa) (Buying it from your local wet market is easy. You can see it square-shaped, ready to fry. 2 to 3 pieces will do. But if you bought a brick-sized tofu, you have to slice it for about an inch thick each for ease of frying.)
- 12 g Garlic, that's about 3 cloves (Minced.)
- 35 g Onion, medium-sized (Chopped.)
- 70 g Tomato, medium to large-sized (Sliced.)
- 5.5 cup Water
- 5 g Beef Broth Cube
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tsp Salt (You can add another teaspoon to suit your taste.)
- 2 tbsp Canola Oil
- Boiling the Monggo (Mung Beans)
- Like how you normally wash the rice, wash the monggo with water straight in the pot you're going to use for cooking.
- If you'll see some unwanted particles floating around, remove them. Wash the monggo for a second time if needed.
- Pour 5 1/2 cups of water. Cover the pot and let it boil for 30 to 40 minutes.
- In between the boiling process of Mung Beans, put the beef broth cube.
- It's best to add the broth cube while the monggo is already boiling.
While we're boiling the monggo, we should be working around the other ingredients to save time. - Frying the Tofu (Tokwa)
- Prepare and heat the frying pan and pour 2 tablespoons of canola oil.
- Fry the tofu for 7 to 10 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- When cooked, please remove it from the frying pan and let it cool down. Slice to bite-sized servings.
- Set aside for a while. We'll include it later in our recipe.
- Sautéing the Aromatics with Pork
While our monggo is probably still half-cooked even after we've finished frying the tofu, we need to go ahead and sauté the aromatics and pork.
I usually do one of either first step of sautéing, which you can also choose to do:
— A. Use another pot or pan. Or just clean the same frying pan as fast as possible. Put the pork on it and add a little amount of water, cover, turn on the stove and again, let the pork produce its own oil. (I believe this step is too tedious for anyone.)
— B. The second is just removing the oil used for frying the tofu, then straight away, pan-fry the pork to a golden brown, and it will still produce its own oil. (This step is more ideal, which is why I want you to stick yourself with it.)😁
But, you have to remember that following either option doesn't really change the fact that we still need to pre-cook the pork.
So, go on your way to cook the meat and finish our kitchen escaped!
- Now that the pork is cooked set it on the side of the pan and start sautéing the garlic to a golden brown.
- Next, put the onion, stir briskly until it becomes translucent.
- Let's put the tomato and stir until it becomes soft.
- Now add the pork to the mix.
- Pour 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and stir for 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Turn off the stove.
- Cooking all Ingredients
30 to 40 minutes may already have passed boiling our monggo. Let's go back to our pot then.
- Put the ampalaya (bitter gourd) in the pot together with all the frying pan's content (cooked aromatics and pork).
- Put 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt.
- Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Lastly, we'll add the fried Tokwa to the pot and stir some more.
- And, that's it!
Our Ginisang Monggo recipe with Pork and Ampalaya is now ready to serve!
Servings 4
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 343kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 16.4g26%
- Saturated Fat 3.5g18%
- Cholesterol 24mg8%
- Sodium 1853mg78%
- Potassium 641mg19%
- Total Carbohydrate 28.3g10%
- Dietary Fiber 7.5g30%
- Sugars 4.6g
- Protein 23.8g48%
- Calcium 20 mg
- Iron 28 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
I hope you enjoyed our version of Ginisang Monggo or Mung Bean Stew cooked with Pork and Ampalaya.
- Do you like our recipe? Then give us some love! We would really appreciate it if you give us your five stars and reviews by sending them through our comment box.
- Share this recipe with your friends and loved ones by using the social sharing buttons located at the left of your screen.
- Also, not that we're asking too much of your time, be sure to subscribe so we can notify you first for future postings of new recipes! ;-)
Thanks a lot! See you on the next recipe!