Ginisang munggo with chicharon and toasted garlic (sautéed mung bean stew), is a savory stew or soup made of whole mung beans, pork, shrimp, tinapa fish, chicharon (pork cracklings), vegetables and toasted garlic. When making this dish, I don’t like it too thick nor runny. Ginisang munggo has many variant and one thing I learned from my mom that toasted garlic complement this dish so well. My mom never served ginisang munggo without these three garnishes: chicharon, toasted garlic and pieces of tinapa.
Some people soak mung beans in water overnight to get it soft. I don’t. First, I wash the mung beans to get rid of dirt. In a deep pot, boil 6 to 8 cups of water with 2 cups of mung beans. Two cups of mung beans is a lot. So if you don’t want any leftover, a cup will do for 4 people. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer mung beans until soft. Once in a while, check that water doesn’t dry up. Add more water if you need to. When soft, turn off heat and set aside.
One thing I do once the mung bean is cooked, I crush some of it against the pot using a solid spoon to make it creamier.
While cooking the mung beans, prepare the toasted garlic. It is prepared similar to toasted garlic used as topping for palabok. If you’ve never made this before and need help preparing it, please check out my toasted garlic post and video.
If you are adding ampalaya, prepare that too before sauteeing.
Once all the garnishes are ready, it is time to saute all the ingredients. I love adding pepper leaves but you can also add spinach, ampalaya vegetable or leaves.
Ginisang munggo is a favorite of mine and definitely a comfort food. It is so yummy especially when all the garnish are added. I can get by without tinapa but it is a must to have pork cracklings and toasted garlic. Not many people use toasted garlic but my ginisang munggo is not complete without it.
Pork cracklings is another ingredient I like serving on the side. I will add a few cracklings before I turn of the heat but I don’t like it soggy. Instead, I add it as a garnish so it is crunchy and crackling in my mouth. It is so good when chicharon has big chunks of fat or meat attached to it. I know what’s in your mind – cholesterol - but it is worth it when having ginisang munggo.
I’m not a big fan of having a lot of leftover especially when it comes to soup. I don’t like the smell of reheating soup over and over again. But when cooking ginisang munggo, I make a big pot. It is one of the dishes that taste so much better after a day or two. It is such a comfort food especially on a cold day.
Whenever I make this dish, I always save a cup or two of mung beans as a snack with milk and sugar that’s why I make 2 cups. If you are not aware mung beans has many health benefits. It is nutritious and delicious.
How to Make Ginisang Munggo with Chicharon and Toasted Garlic
Watch my video and learn "How to Make Ginisang Munggo". It is easy and delicious. Magluto na tayo! (Let’s cook!)
Ginisang Munggo with Chicharon and Toasted Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup mung beans washed and boiled
- 1 medium onion cubed
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 large tomato cubed
- 1/3 pound ground pork
- 1/3 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (patis)
- 6 to 8 cups water (for boiling mung beans)
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- Pepper leaves (as much as you want)
- Spinach ampalaya leaves or one ampalaya vegetable (optional)
Garnish
- 8 pieces tinapa
- 1 bag of chicharon
- 2 heads garlic to make toasted garlic peeled and pounded
Instructions
Prepare Toasted Garlic
- Peel and crush each cloves of garlic. Pound garlic using a mortar.
- In a pan over medium-low heat, fry garlic until golden brown and crisp. Reduce heat as garlic cooks and stirring constantly to cook evenly.
- Remove from pan, drain oil and transfer to a container. Cover container with lid once garlic has cooled down.Watch Toasted Garlic video.
Prepare Tinapa
- Fry tinapa before sauteeing the ingredients.
- Remove from heat. You can add the cooked tinapa when sauteeing the ingredients or follow my instructions below.
- This is optional but this is how I do it. Separate head and body. Peel off skin.
- In a sachet bag, add head and skin. This will add so much flavor to the stew. Set aside.
- Shred the body into pieces as garnish.
Prepare Ampalaya
- Wash and cut ampalaya in half.
- Remove and discard seeds.
- Soak ampalaya in warm water with salt for 30 minutes.
- Drain water and pat dry ampalaya with paper towel.
- Fry ampalaya for 3 minutes or until golden. It should remain crisp and not soggy.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
Instructions
- In a deep pot, heat oil over medium heat.
- Saute onion for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden.
- Toss-in tomato and cook until soft. Crush tomato.
- Stir in ground pork. Cook until pork is pale in color.
- Toss-in shrimp and cook until pink.
- Add fish sauce
- Stir-in cooked mung beans.
- Add tinapa head and skin in a sachet bag or if you prefer add the whole tinapa.
- Simmer for 15 minutes in low heat.
- Season with salt or fish sauce.
- Add a few pieces of chicharon but don’t get it soggy.
- Add pepper leaves, spinach, ampalaya (bitter melon) or leaves. Cook for a minute.
- Serve hot! On the side, serve pork cracklings (chicharon), pieces of tinapa and toasted garlic as garnish while having stew or soup. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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