Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) Recipe

My daughter just turned five years old few days ago and I can’t believed my eyes how time flew so fast. She’s no longer a baby. I still remember the days when she was young. And I think one of the hardest part of being a parent to her when she was young is giving her her medicines. When you see her suffer and all you can do is to force her to take her medicine against her will. Every medication time is a non-stop wrestling, a pinch in parents’ hearts and liters of tears from the little one.

It is true indeed that on trying times like this we could seek comfort from our favorite dishes. It’s been a decade seen I tasted a bowl of dinuguan (pork blood stew) one of my auntie’s speciality. My version was still far from her but every spoonful of it was a bed of roses. Don’t worry those days were also a distant past, for my daughter accepts politely her medicines now even if it doesn’t taste good.

This Filipino dish normally uses pork innards and fresh pork blood.

Ingredients

half a kilo of pork tender part cut in small cubes (choose part with enough fat and meat)

1 1/2 cup of pork blood (Ideally you buy them very early in the morning in your favorite pork butcher in the wet market. Pigs are normally slaughtered very early in the morning so if you come in the afternoon all blood are normally bought already. Otherwise you have a suki and can order in advance)

2 garlic pounded

1 onion sliced

1 teaspoon of grated ginger

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of apple vinegar (you can use any type of light vinegar)

half a cup of pork broth

some oregano (about a tablespoon)

salt, pepper

Procedure:

In a casserole, sauté garlic, onion and ginger with cooking oil. Add you pork, (or if you have intestines, etc) and oregano. Continue stirring until the pork has changed color. In a bowl, put your pork’s blood and crush with your hands the blood to avoid them from coagulating. (This could be bloody Pour them on your sautéd pork. Continue stirring. Pour your pork broth and let it simmer for fifteen minutes. Before turning off the fire, add your vinegar, pepper and salt to taste.