Dinuguang Baboy

Dinuguang Baboy

(Pork Blood Stew)

Ingredients:

½ kilo pork, cut into cubes

1½ cups pig’s blood

10 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium bulb onion, chopped

6 tablespoons fish sauce

15 pieces unripe tamarind fruits

white vinegar

table salt

long chili (siling haba)

cooking oil

water

Cooking Instructions:

Put pork and about half a cup of water in a pot.  Add a pinch of table salt and heat to boiling.  Let the water evaporate then switch to medium or low flame.  Allow the pork to be fried in its own fat until medium brown.  Add oil if necessary.  Scoop up the pork, drain and set aside.  Toss the garlic in the pot and sauté until golden brown.  Add onions and stir until tender.  Put fish sauce and stir in the pork.  Add half a cup of water and place the unripe tamarind on top of the mixture.  Cover and simmer over low heat until the tamarind fruits are soft.  Get the tamarind fruits and mash on a bowl together with some of the liquid from the pot.  Drain the extract into the pot.  Repeat three times making sure that none of the seeds or peels of the fruits are mixed with the pot mixture.  Add the pig’s blood into the mixture with stirring.  Cover and let the mixture simmer over low or medium heat.  Stir the mixture occasionally to prevent burning the blood.  Once the blood is dark-colored, balance the saltiness with the acidity by using white vinegar and table salt.  Add long chili and continue to simmer until the mixture thickens or until the blood is fully cooked.    

This recipe will serve up to four people.

Additional Notes:  If tamarind fruits are not available, you can use vinegar as a substitute.  Just make sure to add the vinegar in moderation as it has a tendency to increase the acidity of the mixture very abruptly.  Also, add vinegar after adding the blood and not before.