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Delicious Blood Dish

Dinuguan is a trademark Filipino dish but it is not really unique to the Philippines. There is an Indonesian version called saksang. In ancient Greece, specifically Sparta, there used to be a staple food called melas zomos, a black soup made from pig’s blood and vinegar. Legend has it that a man from Sybaris once said that he understood why the Spartans were very willing to sacrifice their lives after eating black soup. It’s not clear whether they hated it so much that they’d rather die than continue eating it, or they liked it so much that they can die content.

The ancient recipe for Spartan dinuguan is lost in time, but blood stew still survives in places like the Philippines and it’s eaten all year round. Westerners may find the dish strange, but it is really a tasty dish that’s rich in iron and protein. If you’re concerned about too much fat in the dish, then all you have to do is to remove much of the fat from the pork before cooking and you’re fine!

Dinuguan is one dish that’s perfect for a Halloweed party in Western countries. It’s dark, mysterious, chunky, and looks very “halloweeny.” In spite of its looks, it is really easy to cook. If you serve it in a big bowl, you have your perfect center dish for your Halloween table. You can serve round rice cakes (puto) around the bowl. Dinuguan is traditionally eaten with puto and they are heavenly together. For Halloween, you can decorate your rice cakes with pitted olives made to look like eyes; you can also use some strawberry jam for “blood” on the puto.

The following pork dinuguan recipe is based on a traditional style from the province of Bulacan in Luzon. The secret ingredient used to make the dish very flavorful is revealed here.

Dinuguan (Pork Blood Style) Ingredients

1 pitcher of fresh pork blood

1 kg “kasim” pork (sliced to ½ inch strips)

5 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 onion bulbs (diced)

4-5 chilis (long and green type)

Vegetable oil

White vinegar (small bottle)

Salt

Pepper

Philippine sinigang mix

Puto (Philippine rice cakes)

Pitted olives

Philippine Pork blood stew (dinuguan) cooking process

Dinuguan is a breeze to cook! Prepare your pork meat by slicing it and then marinating it with salt and pepper for some ten minutes. Dinuguan, like most Philippine dishes, is cooked sautéed. So, fry your crushed garlic and diced onions first. Don’t overcook them. Add your marinated meat once the onions turn soft and cloudy. As the meat cooks, season it with more salt and pepper to taste. You can add some commercial sinigang mix at this time. It’s this preparation which will give an appetizing taste to your dinuguan.

Once the dinuguan meat is cooked, add the bottle of vinegar. Wait for the acid to get absorbed by the meat, after which you can add the blood (dugo). NOTE: It is important to keep stirring the stew until it boils. Stirring will keep the blood from forming solidifying in the pan. If you don’t stir, you will end up with a huge pork blood meat patty instead of a stew.

Once the dinuguan mixture is boiling, stirring can stop. Taste it to see if it is just right. If you need more flavor, you can add more of the sinigang mix. But it is okay if you do not have sinigang mix available (see cream dory fish sinigang recipe here). Allow the dinuguan to simmer for 10 minutes with the pan covered. After that, add the long chilis and let simmer for another 5 minutes. When you remove the cover, the spicy-sour aroma of dinuguan will definitely make your mouth water! You will know you have made a good dish if the sourness comes out. Dinuguan is the perfect dish for your Halloween party!

Philippine Pork Igado Recipe