My husband cooks well,  his culinary skill is far better than mine.  Well,   I can cook but only simple and no fancy dishes.  In fact, I can survive with sandwiches alone.   But hubby won’t settle for fast foods because he loves to stay in the kitchen preparing and cooking dishes which are mostly from their region.  His favorite – combinations of vegetables simmered all together.  For true blooded Ilocanos or the G.I’s (Genuine Ilocanos), I know that this dish is their favorite too.    I would like to share the pinakbet recipe of my husband by posting it here for your reference.  For those who are not Ilocanos but would like to sample cooking this popular dish, read on:

How to cook Pinakbet Ilocano Style

Ingredients:

Vegetables like:

1/2 cup squash, cubed
5 pcs string beans, cut 3 inches long
5 pcs okra, sliced lengthwise
3 bitter melon (ampalaya) halved
5 pcs eggplant, cut half
3 pcs tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp. ginger strips
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pcs onions, quartered
1 tbsp. fish bagoong
1/4 kilo bagnet or pork belly, fried until crispy
1 cup water

• Arrange all the vegetables in a saucepan.
• On top place the bagoong (shrimp or fish paste) and the pork belly then add water
• Add 1 cup of water. Cover the saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Lower heart and simmer while stirring it slowly with a ladle
• Make sure that all vegetables are cooked and simmer until almost done.

My husband loves this dish and I also came to like it.   It is mostly vegetables but go slow with the bagoong or shrimp paste since it is salty.   You can do the dish without the pork belly and you may substitute it with chicken or shrimp.   However, if you do and made revisions, this will not be anymore considered as an authentic Ilocano dish.

Try it and you will like it.