Tinumis sa Sampaloc

From Yummy Magazine, I moved on to FOOD Magazine. This magazine didn't have that much recipes compared to their old issues, but there are still some worth trying, like this one. In their September 2010 issue, they visited Nueva Ecija, and aside from the very extensive write up about food tripping in the province, they also included some recipes so that readers can also taste the flavors of Nueva Ecija. This was one of the dishes that caught my interest, and on a weekend alone at the house, I decided to cook it.




Tinumis sa Sampalok
(Pork Cooked in Blood and Tamarind)
{Serves 6}

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 head garlic, peeled and mashed
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 kilo pork ear and cheeks, parboiled, cleaned thoroughly and diced
• 3 tablespoons patis
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups pig's blood
• 6 pieces finger chili
• 1/4 kilo talbos o bulaklak ng sampaloc (young tamarind leaves or shoots, flowers)

How to Cook:

• In a large wok, heat the cooking oil and saute garlic, onions, pork ears and cheeks, one at a time, waiting until the liquid of each ingredient is evaporated and the oil appears. Season with patis.
• Add the water, boil, reduce heat, cover the wok, and simmer about 45 minutes or until the meat is tender.
• Raise the heat to high, pour the pig's blood through the fingers of one hand. Crush any big piece of blood with the hand. Stir the mixture, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Stir the chili and sampaloc shoots, correct seasoning and simmer another 5 minutes.

Since it was just me eating this dish, I didn't buy the pig's ear and cheeks anymore, and just used normal pork. When it comes to cooking dinuguan, it's always my personal preference to have creamy sauce, instead of the runny one. The pictures in the magazines had more sauce (which looked a little soupy).

Normally, dinuguan is cooked with vinegar. Replacing it with sampaloc shoots made it a little milder, with a fruity taste. If only sampaloc shoots were easy to find, I'd surely cook my dinuguan like this.

*** Jenn ***