Pinakbet Ilocano is a Filipino version of cooking vegetables, fermented fish sauce (bagoong), and fried pork. As the name implies, it is originally from the Northern Luzon region in the Philippines called Ilocos Region. As an Ilocano, I will share this delicious, nutritious, and authentic Pakbet Ilokano recipe with you.
We all love savory vegetable dishes in our house. Filipinos are known for our famous chicken adobo and crispy pork lumpia. And Ilocano Cuisine is known for its popular vegetable dish called pakbet. Ilocos Region has so much to offer. It is one the biggest rice producer in the Philippines, and the soil is rich, so you can grow most of the tropical Filipino vegetables.
Why you will love this recipe
- This dish requires one skillet to cook, which is an easy cleanup.
- It takes a few easy and simple steps to cook this dish. Just simply throw and arrange everything in a pan, stir, and then be ready to eat soon.
- A nutritious and healthy dish for the whole family. My parents introduce this dish when I was a young kid, and I have loved all the different tastes and textures of every vegetable since then.
- Ingredients are easy to find and affordable.
- If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my:
Ingredient Notes
- Vegetables – Pakbet Ilocano uses almost the same veggies as pakbet tagalog and ginisang gulay. But Ilokano-style uses sweet potato instead of squash to balance the bitterness of bittermelon. The Filipino veggies we use in the dish are tomatoes, sweet potato, eggplant, okra, and jalapeno pepper. If you have leafy greens such as spinach, you can add that once everything is cooked at the end.
- Protein – The dish should always have meat or fish as protein sources unless you are vegan, you can use tofu. Our favorite protein is fried pork belly (lechon kawali) or fried fish. You can use grilled pork or fish as well.
- Seasoning – This dish uses fermented fish sauce or bagoong. Bagoong has a thicker consistency, and darker brown compared the regular fish sauce.
- Aromatics – Onion and ginger are Ilokano’s staple in cooking most of our dishes.
Recipe Instructions
Prepare and gather all the ingredients before we start cooking. The dish requires just a few simple and easy steps to cook.
Frying the pork belly. Pan-fry the pork on all sides until nice and golden brown. Take them out, including most of the fats they rendered.
- In the same pan, start adding the aromatics and vegetables. First, add the ginger and onion. Followed by tomatoes and sliced sweet potatoes.
- Add and arrange the okra, eggplant, bittermelon, and jalapeno pepper.
- Dilute the fermented fish sauce (bagoong) in a cup of water, then pour it into the pot or skillet. Strain the bagoong until smooth if there are some small fish parts included, we need to discard them.
- Lastly, add the fried pork on top. Cover and cook in high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until it starts boiling. Gently stir with a spatula for even cooking. Continue cooking on medium heat until you achieve the desired doneness.
- You will know when they are done when they are soft but not soggy. Taste and adjust the salt accordingly.
Questions and Answers
The name originated from the word pinakebbet which means “shriveled” or “shrunk”. Pakbet Ilokano is a native Ilokano dish that consists of vegetables and fried pork belly or bagnet, and is seasoned with bagoong. This dish is slightly salty and full of umami flavors.
This pakbet/pinakbet Ilocano style has different techniques in cooking compare to pinakbet Tagalog which requires sauteing the vegetables. Both dishes are so delicious, but in cooking Pakbet Ilocano we do not saute the vegetables. We simply arrange them by adding what ingredient will take the longest time to cook go first in the pot, followed by the rest of the veggies, then the fried meat or fish and leafy greens (if using) will go last at the top. This authentic dish uses fermented fish sauce or bagoong instead of shrimp paste or regular fish sauce.
The good thing about this dish is you can add as many vegetables as you want. Some of the yummy vegetable addition are string beans (sitaw), edamame beans, snow peas (sitsaro), winged beans, Egyptian spinach (saluyot), sponge gourd (patola) and the list go on and on. Remember the bahay kubo song in elementary? Add whatever is mentioned in the song.
Expert Tips
- After slicing, soak the eggplant in water to avoid discoloration.
- Soak the bittermelon for 10 minutes with salt water to reduce bitterness. You can massage it with a pinch of salt and squeeze some water content to reduce bitterness.
- Don’t forget to add water or broth to cook the dish.
- You can add you’re leftover lechon kawali, bagnet or grilled and fried fish on top of this dish for more flavor.
- We only need to gently stir this dish once it started boiling. One reason is to reduce bitterness.
- Remember, there is no wrong way to cook Pakbet Ilokano. What matters is having fun cooking this dish and serving it to your friends and family with a smile on everyone’s face.
What to serve with this dish
Growing up, my parents always cooked and served this with cooked white rice on the side. Rice is always a staple in every meal, from breakfast, lunch, and dinner, of course.
If you are trying to reduce your white rice intake, there are low-carb rice options such as cauliflower rice or brown rice. I share some tips and tricks on how to lower the glycemic index in cooking white rice by the way.
Make-ahead, Storage, and Reheating
- Make-ahead: Prepare the vegetables in advance to save you some time. After slicing, soak the eggplant in water in a separate container. The other vegetables can go in one container together.
- Storage: Let the dish cool and transfer it into a glass container with a tight lid. It will stay good in the fridge for 5-7 days.
- Reheating: Reheat in a saucepan with some water at medium heat. Stir and reheat until warm thoroughly.
Pinakbet Ilocano Recipe
Equipment
- 1 skillet
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork belly sliced in cubes
- 1 medium yellow onion sliced
- 1 inch ginger peeled and sliced
- 1 large sweet potato sliced
- 2 cups tomatoes sliced
- 1 large eggplant sliced
- 10 pieces okra trimmed and sliced 2-inches
- 2 large jalapeno optional
- ⅓ cup fermented fish sauce (bagoong)
Instructions
- Pan-fry the pork on all sides until nice and golden brown. Take them out, including most of the fats they rendered.
- In the same pan, start adding the aromatics and vegetables. First, add the ginger and onion. Followed by tomatoes and sliced sweet potatoes.
- Add and arrange the okra, eggplant, bittermelon, and jalapeno pepper.
- Dilute the fermented fish sauce (bagoong) in a cup of water, then pour it into the pot or skillet.
- Lastly, add the fried pork on top. Cover and cook in high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until it starts boiling. Gently stir with a spatula for even cooking. Continue cooking on medium heat until you achieve the desired doneness, soft but not soggy.
Notes
- Taste the dish before serving. Adjust the level of saltiness according to your taste.
- After slicing, soak the eggplant in water to avoid discoloration.
- Soak the bittermelon for 10 minutes with salt water to reduce bitterness. You can massage it with a pinch of salt and squeeze some water content to reduce bitterness.
- Don’t forget to add water or broth to cook the dish.
- You can add you’re leftover lechon kawali, bagnet or grilled and fried fish on top of this dish for more flavor.
- We only need to gently stir this dish once it starts boiling. One reason is to reduce bitterness.
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