Sauteed Mung Beans (Ginisang Munggo)

The simplest Filipino dish one can learn.  This is a versatile beans-based dish that is a common side to shallow fried pork chops or mackarel. It is uniquely Filipino but can be compared to the likes of the Indian daal, which uses lentils as the base ingredient.  This dish can be vegetarian or you may add bits of pork cubes or some dried salted prawns for flavour. You can add chillies for the extra kick or some leafy greens like chilli leaves, bok choy or spinach leaves for colour and the extra vitamin D.  

To make this dish, you'll need

1 cup mung beans (usually sold in Asian supermarkets)

1 medium sized onion, diced

1-2 pieces tomato, quartered

2 cloves garlic minced

100g pork cubes/minced or 5g dried salted prawns

fish sauce for seasoning

Boil the mung beans (in enough water) in a saucepan until soft.  May take 30-45 minutes. If the water dries up, add a few cups more water.)

In a skillet or shallow pan, saute the onion and garlic until soft, then add the tomato. Stir until the tomato is soft.  Season with fish sauce (2-3 tbsp, taste as you go as different brands of fish sauce have varying saltiness).  Add the cooked mung beans and simmer for 10 minutes.

Best serve with boiled rice.  



This version includes some chopped chillies.




This version includes some chopped strips of pork belly fried until crispy before adding the mung beans.



Bean sprouts are grown out of mung beans left soaked in water for a week or more. Bean sprouts are usually sauteed and serve as sides in terriyaki dishes, or served fresh with hot Vietnames pho soup.