[Recipe] Gising-gising (spicy minced pork and vegetables in coconut milk)

Gising-gising (minced pork, chilies, and veggies cooked in coconut milk)

Gising-gising (literally translates to "Wake up! Wake up!" from Tagalog). This is a dish I would normally cook whenever I crave for something a bit spicy. My version is made from cut up green banana chilies, long beans (sitaw), french beans (Baguio beans), and minced pork then simmered in a rich and creamy coconut milk broth. It also has bits of sun-dried shrimp (hibe), sautéed shrimp paste (bagoong), and river crab fat butter (taba ng talangka) to enhance the flavor of the dish (note that the addition of crab fat and dried shrimps are non-traditional). Its origins can be traced to Nueva Ecija and Pampanga regions in the Philippines and can alternatively be made from other stalky vegetables such as sigarilyas or winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and kangkong stalks. Add a little color by adding red chili peppers (I hesitated to add siling labuyo (Capsicum frutescens) since I was afraid that the dish would then become too spicy. 

Ingredients:
1/4 Kilo ground pork 
1 and 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1 cup french beans (Baguio beans), cut up into 1 cm segments
1 cup long beans (sitaw), cut up into 1 cm segments
1/2 cup sliced banana chilies, cut up into 1 cm segments (use less or more depending on your desired spiciness)
1 medium sliced onion, roughly chopped
1 head of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon fermented shrimp paste (bagoong)
100 grams of dried shrimps (hibe)
1 Tablespoon river crab fat butter (taba ng talangka)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
fish sauce (patis) to taste

Directions:
Sauté onions and garlic in vegetable oil until caramelized. Add the dried shrimps, the shrimp paste, and the crab fat. Cook for a few more minutes until fragrant (fragrant is a relative term I know - bagoong can be very strong smelling when being sautéed so I prefer using ginisang bagoong or pre-sautéed fermented shrimp paste sold in jars at the local supermarket). Mix in the minced pork. I personally like to brown the minced pork slightly at this point since the caramelized meat gives off a nice meaty flavor to the dish. Add the cut up chilies and vegetables. Pour in the coconut milk. Let it simmer. Add freshly ground pepper and some fish sauce to taste to balance the sweetness of the coconut milk (depending on how salty your fermented shrimp paste is the fish sauce may not be necessary). Check doneness of the vegetables. The cut-up vegetables should not have that raw taste but should still have some crunch. Serve with steamed rice and enjoy.