How to Prepare Yummy Vegetables in Shrimp Paste (Simple Pinakbet)

Vegetables in Shrimp Paste (Simple Pinakbet). The Filipino Pinakbet is a vegetable stew cooked with bagoong (shrimp paste). In the Philippines, backyard vegetables are used for this recipe like eggplants, long green beans, okra, ampalaya (bitter melon), kabocha squash. When I cook this in my American kitchen, I try to substitute with similar vegetables I can find in the markets.

Then, in the same pan you used to cook the shrimp, saute the garlic and ginger followed by the remaining shrimp paste. Pinakbet or Pakbet is an indigenous Filipino dish cooked with mixed tropical vegetables. Traditionally, it consists of eggplant, okra, bitter melon, squash, winged beans, and shrimp paste or bagoong (fermented anchovies). You can cook Vegetables in Shrimp Paste (Simple Pinakbet) using 11 ingredients and 5 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Vegetables in Shrimp Paste (Simple Pinakbet)

1. You need 1 bowl of sliced vegetables.
2. You need 1 of small red onion, chopped.
3. Prepare 4 cloves of garlic, chopped.
4. You need 1-2 of tomatoes, sliced.
5. It's 2 Tbsp of cooking oil.
6. Prepare 1-2 Tbsp of shrimp paste (alamang).
7. You need 1/2 c of or more Water.
8. You need to taste of Salt.
9. You need to taste of Pepper.
10. Prepare Dash of coconut milk (optional).
11. You need 1/4 of pork bullion cube (optional, if no protein).

Pinakbet or Pakbet is a Filipino vegetable dish that is flavorful as it is colorful. A medley of local vegetables like squash, eggplant, okra, yard-long beans, and bitter melon. Pork, shrimp paste, and tomatoes are used to give it its distinctive taste. Filipino cooking embraces salt — perhaps the legacy of life in a tropical climate, where, before refrigeration, food had to be preserved The primary salt in pinkabet, a vegetable stew, is bagoong, a satisfyingly funky paste of fermented shrimp or fish As with miso, there are many types of bagoong: dry or oily, toasted or raw, bright pink and briny or dark brown and faintly sweet Vegetables in Shrimp Paste (Simple Pinakbet) You can add protein, like pork, mince or peeled shrimp.

Vegetables in Shrimp Paste (Simple Pinakbet) step by step

1. Traditional vegetables used are (sliced): bitter gourd (ampalaya), okra, eggplant, string beans, carrots and squash..
2. Sauté onions then garlic in oil. Then add tomatoes. Let the juices come out. Add your protein..
3. Add water and the squash. Simmer until half cooked..
4. Add the other vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pork bullion to flavor if not adding protein. Taste and adjust. Add a little more water if necessary..
5. Sauté in the shrimp paste. You have the option to add coconut milk here. Simmer until veggies are cooked. Serve with rice. Some like it saucy, mine got absorbed since I did not add coconut milk..

I didn't like it much as a child, but as an adult. For me what sets aside Pinakbet from other vegetable dishes is the addition of shrimp paste. It really gives the dish a complexity in taste that makes it unique. This recipe may not be traditional but it sure is tasty and very easy to make. A good way to get your children to like vegetables.