← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 250 g Whole green mung beans (monggo), rinsed
• 1.5 l Water
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 200 g Pork belly, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 2 Tomato, chopped
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 150 g Prawns (shrimp), peeled (optional)
• 150 g spinach, malunggay or bitter melon leaves
• ½ tsp Black pepper

Method

1. Put the mung beans and water in a pot, bring to the boil and simmer partly covered for 40–45 min, until the beans are soft and many have burst. Add more water if it gets too thick.
2. Meanwhile, fry the pork in the oil in a frying pan over medium heat for 6–8 min until lightly browned and some fat has rendered.
3. Add the garlic, onion and tomatoes and cook for 4–5 min until the tomatoes collapse. Stir in the fish sauce.
4. Tip the pork mixture into the beans and simmer for 10 min, stirring and mashing some beans against the side of the pot to thicken it. Add the prawns (if using) for the last 3 min.
5. Stir in the greens for 1–2 min until wilted. Season with pepper and more fish sauce, and serve with rice and fried fish.

Tips

• Soaking the beans overnight cuts the simmering time roughly in half.
• For a vegetarian monggo, skip the pork and prawns, fry cubes of tofu instead and season with salt or light soy sauce in place of fish sauce.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Panlasang Pinoy Foxy Folksy Panlasang Pinoy