Munggo with Pork and Shrimp

Bringing Back the Dinners of Yesterday

Growing up, my brothers and I were spoiled with great dinners just about every night, especially when we had Munggo with Pork and Shrimp. We had everything from traditional Filipino dishes to, American and we even loved the can food spread of Spam, Chili Con Carne and rice. We would add a can of Corned Beef Hash when we turned into eating machines. For me, that was probably when I was 5 years old, but I will never forget Munggo with Pork and Shrimp.

It would be a challenge for me to say which dish that my parents made was my favorite. Even if I did say one, I would probably think of another one within the next five minutes. I will say that when my dad made munggo, I am for certain that I went to sleep with an extra full belly that night.

What’s Munggo?

Munggo is a hearty stew or soup filled with so much flavor with every bite. I remember my plate looking like a mountain, with a few spoons of munggo over a couple of scoops of steamed rice. This is one of those dishes that you willingly suffer a burned mouth because you could not wait for it to cool down before eating. The mix of rice, the beans, pork and some spinach in one bite is amazing. Then you rotate the pork with a shrimp every now and then. When we were older, my dad’s recipe changed because he started to add asparagus. This was my introduction to the vegetable and now to this day, it is a staple in my recipe.

One of the best pairings that I ever had was munggo and lumpia. Lumpia of course can go with everything but this dinner duo always rang out glorious fatness. But today, we are just going to focus on munggo with pork and shrimp. I won’t lie, this is not a dish to whip up before dinner because you didn’t have anything planned. More than likely, you are going to buy a package of raw, dry mung beans.

I like to soak them in water to soften them up before cooking. Over night or throughout the day is fine. Soaking them is not necessary but it speeds up the cooking time and, in my mind, softening them up before cooking makes them more receptive to the numerous flavors of the other ingredients.

Apparently, just ginisang (sauteed) Munggo was, maybe still is in some areas, a popular dish for Friday’s during Lent. I honestly cannot imagine eating it without, basically everything else. Bring in the pork and shrimp! https://www.yummy.ph/features/food-stories/what-s-with-monggo-every-friday-adv-con

Munggo with Pork and Shrimp

Servings: This recipe will definitely feed a family of six, with leftovers

Nutritional Narrative: This dish certainly is not on the bad side of foods that we can eat. This recipe uses only Patis (fish sauce) as its source of sodium. It can also be improved by selecting pork cuts with less fat. The mung beans will put this dish on the higher side of carbohydrates, but along with the spinach and asparagus, you will get lots of protein, fiber, other essential vitamins and minerals, micronutrients and antioxidants.  

Ingredients:

2 lb bag of Mung Beans

Water

Avocado Oil: Similar nutritional qualities of Olive Oil but Avocado Oil can be used for high temp sautéing

3-5 (pending on your love of garlic) Cloves of Garlic: minced or sliced is fine but I like to use a wooden mortar and pestle to grind up the garlic to spread it and its oils throughout the dish 

1 Onion chopped: I do ¼ – ½ inch pieces. If the kids don’t see it, then they’ll eat it.

2 Tomatoes: wedged

3 tbs Patis (fish sauce): Don’t leave this out!!! Salt is not an ingredient in this recipe but if you want to include it, just  add to taste.

1 lb of Pork: Cut into bite sized pieces

Pepper

12/16 count Large Shrimp: Unshelled, tail off and deveined

1 bunch of Spinach

1 bunch of Asparagus (1 to 1½ inch cuts)  

Mung Bean Prep

Thoroughly rinse and wash the mung beans. This can be done with a colander, but you may find out that the wholes are bigger than the beans. Mesh strainers work well to wash away small, loose particles but you are going to want to find the bad ones of the bunch, if there are any. I like washing them in the sauce pan that they will be cooked in, just like washing rice. This gives me the opportunity to find anything that needs to be discarded.

After washing, fill up the pan with enough water to fully immerse the mung beans. I level off the beans stick my fingers straight into them and look at how deep it is with my middle finger. I then fill up the pan with water to the same line with my middle finger at the top of the beans. Again, I do this process at leisure the day before or earlier in the day if I’m cooking for dinner.

At this point you can do whatever you want to do. This is a good reminder that cooking should be a relaxing and satisfying. Stressful cooking experiences come from time constraints or trying to “bite off more than you can chew” when choosing a dish to cook. At the same time, every now and then, you should experiment with new or difficult dishes. It is the best way to learn and improve your craft.

Time to Cook Dinner   

Before the family gets hungry, get back into the kitchen. The first step is to cook the mung beans. You’ll see that the contents in the pan have increased. No, no one is playing a trick on you, the beans have expanded because they are absorbing the water. Be sure to add more water before you start to boil them. You may also notice that some of the bean have started to sprout. Not to worry but it is a pretty cool gardening or science experiment.

Like rice, boil and watch. If the water gets close to flowing over the top of the pan then reduce your heat. A slow and steady boil is what you want. If you lose water, it is okay to add more. This process can take up to 30 minutes, depending on how long or if you soaked the beans at all. You will know when they are ready when they are considerably softer.

Historically, some Asian cultures used kneeling on Mung beans as a form of punishment. If you had to prepare the beans for your punishment, you’ll know the difference between soft and hard. Either smash one with a spoon or throw one in your mouth. Don’t cook until you can make refried mung beans, just soft enough to be inadvertently smashed while mixing with the rest of the ingredients.

The final dish will cook for a bit when all ingredients are combined, so there will be time for some of the beans to get mashed and thicken the soup. I love a mixture of full beans and mashed, with each bite.

Pan to Pot

Second, which can be done while the beans are cooking, gather and prep all of the ingredients for the ginisang, or the sauté stage. You will need the oil, garlic, onions and tomatoes. It is better to use a stock pot when cooking this dish, rather than your biggest sauce pan. You’ll soon see why. The stock pot that I used just fits the ingredients of this recipe. You’re going to want to use something bigger. I used this pot for picture purposes.

Warm up the pot at a medium/high heat. Drop a piece of onion in the oil, if it sizzles, the oil is ready. Add in and stir the rest of the onions, followed by the tomato wedges. Continue until onions are soft and the wedges are pureed. The tomatoes will add to the overall flavor. Next you can add in the garlic. I like adding the garlic last to preserve its texture and oils.

Time For the Pork

Immediately stir in the pork. I like to cook the garlic and pork together so that the garlic flavor infuses into the pork. With this in mind, this is when I add the Patis and fresh grounded pepper. Stir the contents well, with flavor in mind. Lower the heat to medium when pork is just about cooked.

Down to Just the Pot

Add the pan of the cooked mung beans along with the water. If the water is murky, it’s not dirty. It is the start of the mashing process of some of the beans. Again, it will thicken the soup. Add more water in increments of 1 cup, to prevent from making it too watery and losing flavor. You are looking for somewhere a little soupier than a beef stew or comparable. Definitely not French onion soup. The more you cook or eat this dish, the better you will know its consistency.

The Finishing Touches

Continue to cook on a medium heat and stir to continue to infuse all of the flavors. Now it’s time to add the asparagus cuts and shrimp. Be sure to rinse the shrimp off before adding, to get rid of stray shells or broken tail pieces. Don’t be concerned about the cook time for the shrimp and asparagus. They will cook sufficiently before serving time. Stir contents well .

Last but not least, rinse your spinach well. If you bought spinach by the bunch, there still might be some dirt, mud or insects mixed in. This is not a spinach salad, so the stems of the spinach do not need to be removed. We love lots of spinach in our munggo. This is where the bigger stock pot comes handy. Slowly stir in the spinach and let it simmer until dinner time. Continue to stir your Munggo with pork and shrimp occasionally.

Give it a taste test. At this point it should be on the less salty side. This is the health-conscious side of my cooking. You can add more Patis if you want to increase its saltiness. Add to taste, don’t go fire hose with the bottle.

As the pot sits, waiting for serving, if the beans are not quite ready, they will continue to absorb water, while others will break apart to add to the thickness of the soup. Add water before serving if necessary and stir well.  

I hope that you didn’t forget to press the cook button on your rice cooker. 

Enjoy and feel free to send us pictures of your Munggo with Pork and Shrimp dish! 

Masayang Pagluluto!

Kain na tayo!