Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew, Ver. 2)

In my “Dinuguan” post before, I used meat from pork head. There, I mentioned my intension to make another post using offal to re-create a more authentic version of the dish as we knew and enjoyed it during town fiesta (festivals), wedding celebration, birthday and baptismal events and other important family occasions in the Philippines. Before I proceed, let me repeat what I mentioned in my first post, “this is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted”. “Dinuguan” or pork blood stew as they call it in the West is a Filipino dish made from offal and other exotic meat parts plus pork blood which some might find unusual or disturbing.

Since, through special order, I recently acquired beef chitterlings (can’t really find pork), pork ears meat and fresh pork blood, I thought this is the right time to redo that post. So I wasted no time and immediately attended to preparatory work involving cleaning of the ear meat and chitterlings. I do not intend to show you photos of how I do the cleaning, unless requested. Anyway, unlike here, you can always buy clean and ready to cook chitterlings and pork ear meat from the Philippine markets or Filipino/Asian stores abroad.

The night before, after cleaning the meat, I boiled the chitterlings and pork ears in separate casseroles. I just simply covered the meat with enough water, added some salt and 2 thumb-sized peeled and smashed gingers and then simmered them on low heat until the meat is fork tender. It took about 2 hours for me to attain the right tenderness. I let it cooled and then stocked in the freezer.

To cook, thaw the frozen boiled meat and dice into small pieces. Do it separately for the chitterlings and the pork ear. I have about 1½ kilos of both so I have about 3 kilos of boiled meat, all in all.

Following the same procedures in my first “dinuguan” post, prepare the other ingredients (this is adjusted to the amount of the meat): 1 whole garlic, peeled and minced, 3 large onions sliced, 1 pc Sri Lankan chili pepper julienned, 4 pcs hot chili peppers (1 chopped, 3 whole), 2 tbsp salt or to taste, 1 tbsp ground pepper, 1½ cup vinegar, 1 pc large leek, sliced, about 4~5 cups broth and about 5~6 cups blood, mashed into a pulp.

In a large thick pan, heat about 3 tbsp of vegetable and sauté garlic, onion and julienned chili pepper. Add the diced pork ear meat and the chopped hot chili pepper and continue sautéing. When it starts to sizzle, add the chitterlings and continue stirring. Add salt and ground pepper and lightly stir. As I adviced before, before adding the liquid ingredients, you might want to lessen the amount of oil in the pan or take it out completely. If there is hardly any, you are on the right track. :-)

Slightly lower the heat, add the vinegar and let it boil uncovered without stirring. When it boils, stir lightly to evenly mix everything, taste and adjust the level of vinegar.

Then add the broth (just enough to cover) and continue simmering on low heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings. It should be slightly salty to balance the unsalted blood later. Add the chili pepper and prepare the blood.

If you are satisfied with the taste, lower the heat and slowly pour the blood while continuously stirring. Continue doing so until everything is evenly mixed. Add some more whole chili pepper if you like and cover, stirring from time to time until everything is fully cooked.

See, “Dinuguan” using offal is much better than the one with pork head meat. Though they both taste good, the texture of the offal in the dish is simply perfect for me. This is a hit!!! About 30 Filipinos confirmed. Enjoy, but please excuse me, I need to get some rice now. c“,)