The Happy Home Cook: Vegan Munggo Stew (Munggo Guisado)
/The Happy Home Cook features cherished recipes of Filipino dishes from well-known foodies and contributors. If you have a recipe that you are proud of and would like to share, please send it along with a photo of the dish, your two-sentence bio and your picture to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.
First published in: http://www.astigvegan.com/video-recipe-how-to-make-mung-bean-stew/
Vegan Munggo Stew (Photo by Astig Vegan)
When veganizing Filipino dishes, you could also use beans, mung beans to be exact. Filipinos eat a lot of mung beans or “munggo“. We put them in both savory and sweet dishes like soups (Ginataang Totong), stews (Munggo Guisado), and desserts (Ice candy, Halo-halo).
Munggo Stew is probably one of the (if not the) easiest Filipino dishes to veganize because the main component of the dish is not the meat but the beans. And it traditionally has tofu! Although almost vegan, Munggo stew still has small pieces of fried pork or fish. To veganize, simply omit the meat or fish (mind-blowing, I know). The omission of meat or fish will not affect the flavor; You still have that traditional hearty stew that Filipinos love so much. Munggo stew could be enjoyed as is or with rice.
Mung Bean Stew or Munggo Guisado (“moong-goh gee-sah-doh”) is a savory hearty dish that’s packed with proteins that will keep you full and satisfied. Not to mention, it’s delicious! Its main ingredient is, you guessed it, mung beans. You may find mung beans at your local Asian grocery stores, local supermarkets, and online. Another main ingredient in this recipe is fried tofu, so this dish is easily veganizable.
In Filipino cuisine, mung beans are used in either savory or sweet dishes. Filipinos put them in stews, sweet drinks (like in Halo-halo or coconut milk drinks), sweet soups (like in Ginataang Munggo), and many more. It’s wonderful to know that this protein-rich ingredient could be so versatile in so many dishes. Mung beans are also extremely affordable so if you’re on a budget and don’t know where to start with the vegan lifestyle, look no further than mung beans.
Ingredients
1 block of firm tofu
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 medium roma tomatoes, or 2 small ones
1/4 kabocha squash, cut to cubes
1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water for at least 2 minutes
2 cups mung beans, boiled until soft and mushy
1 bunch spinach, thoroughly washed
1/4 cup soy sauce, add more to taste
Procedure
Chef Richgail Enriquez
RG Enriquez at astigvegan.com discovers ways to show that Filipino food can be vegan, healthy, and delicious without losing its soul. Born and raised in the Philippines, RG veganizes the Filipino food of her childhood. She has appeared on the television show, "Adobo Nation" and given demonstrations and talks at "Savor Filipino", "Taste of South Lake”, “Barrio Fiesta”, Pitzer College, and Cal-State East Bay.
More articles from Chef Richgail Enriquez