There are several ways and types of cooking mung bean (monggo). Mung beans are traditionally used in East Asian and Indian cuisines. They are a healthy and inexpensive addition to any diet. When cooked, the mung beans can be eaten plain or with spices and vegetables.

“bakit tradition na ng pinoy ang ulam na monggo tuwing biyernes???”

Sabi nila:  Kasi karamihan ng mga obrero ay lingguhan kung sumueldo komo every friday ang sweldo minsan thursday wala nang pang ulam ang munggo ay muralang tinapa lang ang sahog o kaya chicharon o kahit taba lang ng baboy talo talo na…

Ako naman natutunan at nakasanayan ko nalang mula sa aking late nanay na sa tuwing araw ng biyernes ay ginisang monggo ang ulam at may piniritong galunggong!

MY “MONGGO GINATAAN”

YOU NEED…….

* about 100 to 150 g Mung bean (Monggo)
* some Vine Spinach (Alugbati) or Spinach
* 1 Onion, sliced
* 4 cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed
* Ginger, a thumb-sized and cut into matchsticks
* 1 can green Jackfruit, drained and sliced (Langka)
* 250 g Coconut Milk
* 1 1/2 tbsps. Bagoong guisado (shrimp paste)
* 100 g dried small shrimps (dried alamang)
* 3 tbsps. Canola oil
* 4 cups of water for boiling

HOW TO…….

— Clean the munggo by dunking the beans in a bowl of tap water and skimming off the “floaters”.

— Place munggo in a pot with the 4 cups of water and cook on low heat until soft (around an hour, more or less).

— Heat some oil in a pan, sauté onion, ginger, garlic and langka (jackfruit) until slightly soft.

— Add dried small shrimps, toss, and heat through.

— Add the mixture to cooked munggo and pour in the coconut milk, stir cover and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes over medium heat.

— After you have given it a moment for the flavors to blend, add bagoong alamang guisado to taste.

— Add vine spinach (alugbati), give it a few stirs (they’ll cook fast), and you’re done.

There are a number of Filipino dishes that soothe me but when I found out about this month’s theme I knew that, when it comes to putting a smile on my soul, there can be only one: Monggo (Mung bean).

Ever notice how, all around the world, some form of “humble bean stew” is considered soul food? We must have more in common that we think. I guess everyone needs a culinary cuddle sometimes, and this does it for me.

MY SHRIMPS MONGGO SOUP

Another way from my very own imagination and creation, which I cooked last year during christmas season. It’s a soup. Another purely experiment of mine as a heavy soup for this cold winter day!

Cooking while chatting with my highschool BFF Lea, her hubby Ferdie and Bes Fely. I was inspired with the Visayan way of cooking mongo. Transport yourself to the visayan islands with soup, full of fresh shrimp and mongo. We loved this soup with regular store-bought frozen shrimps, but if you happen you have fresh shrimps, which is more tastier much better. Serve with jasmine rice and fried daing na bangus would make it perfect lunch for every family member.

YOU NEED…….

* about 1 cup of Mongo
* 800 g Shrimps
* 100 g Sotanghon
* a bunch of String bean
* 6 pcs. small Eggplants
* some Vegetable oil
* 1 onion
* 1 Tomatoe
* Salt to taste or Patis (fish Sauce)

HOW TO…….Please watch this VIDEO!

MONGGO CON PATA

And here is another cooking Video of mine with “MONGGO CON PATA”!
I never imagined ginisang mongo could be so good with pata too!
So, what to do…I do have pata, what goes with it?…should have vegetables too, but how???…mongo, eggplant, okra, and some spinach I have in refrigerator!
hmmm…something additional to my CREATION…wink!
Wanna try?—so don’t wait, have a try…
My family finished the whole thing without saying anything. I think they liked it:)

YOU NEED…….

* 1 cup of boiled mongo (Mung bean)
* 500 g pata strips boiled
* 3 tomatoes
* 1 onion
* half a head garlic
* 3 eggplants
* 10 pcs. small okra
* 1 bunch of spinach
* fish sauce for seasoning (patis)
* black pepper
* some vegetable oil

HOW TO…….Please watch this VIDEO!

MONGGO (MUNGGO), MALUNGGAY, AT TINAPA

When you’re living abroad you suddenly find yourself missing the things that you take for granted back home.
Unlike in the Philippines, you can’t buy malunggay here. They are not sold in the market nor in the groceries. A friend of mine took a vacation with her family back home in the same province where my mother in-law live. So I asked her if she could bring me some dried malunggay leaves, ampalaya and saluyot. She said yes. So I called up (long distance call of course) my mother in-law and told her about it. She prepared it and brought it to them 3 days before their flight back here in Vienna. Now, I’m so happy that I could cook some dishes with malunggay and saluyot again. I didn’t recieved the ampalaya leaves for some reason but that’s onother story!

YOU NEED…….

* 150 g Mung bean (munggo)
* 150 g smoked fish (tinapa), flakes
* a bunch og malunggay (dried or fresh)
* 1 onion
* 2 pcs. tomatoes
* 3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
* some vegetable oil
* some salt to taste

HOW TO…….

—Washed and boil the mung bean until done. Other people used to soak it overnight before cooking. Me I don’t, I just washed it and leave for a few hours in a bowl covered with water before cooking. Set asde.

—Heat a casserole, pour some vegetable oil and saute onion, garlic and tomatoes until smashy. Add smoked fish flakes and mung bean. Cover and let it boil.

—Season with salt and add malunggay leaves. Continue cooking over medium heat until malunggay leaves is done. Adjust salt if necessary. Serve hot with rice.

MONGO WITH BAMBOO SHOOTS (LABONG) IN COCO MILK

This was a modified version of my entry from the old blog of mine. Since 2009 I’m writing a blog about my crazyhomecooking.

YOU NEED…….

* 1 cup of boiled monggo bean
* 1 Onion, sliced
* 4 cloves Garlic, peeled and crushed
* Ginger, a thumb-sized and cut into matchsticks
* 1 can Bamboo shoots, drained (Labong)
* 250 g Coconut Milk
* 1 1/2 tbsps. Bagoong Balayan or Anchovy Sauce
* 3 tbsps. Canola oil
* 4 cups of water for boiling
* 3 pcs. Spring Onions, sliced

HOW TO…….

— Clean the munggo by dunking the beans in a bowl of tap water and skimming off the “floaters”.

— Place munggo in a pot with the 4 cups of water and cook on low heat until soft (around an hour, more or less).

— Heat some oil in a pan, sauté onion, ginger, garlic and bamboo shoots (labong) until slightly soft.

— Add the mixture to cooked munggo and pour in the coconut milk, stir cover and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes over medium heat.

— After you have given it a moment for the flavors to blend, add bagoong balayan or anchovy sauce to taste.

— Add sliced spring onions, give it a few stirs (they’ll cook fast), and you’re done.

MONGGO WITH SPINACH AND PORK BELLY

Remembering my late nanay again with this way of cooking Ginisang Munggo which is usually cooked with shrimps or flaked fish is traditionally served on Fridays, as the majority of the Filipino population are Roman Catholic and abstain from meat on Fridays, even outside of Lent. I love cooking it any day of the week though! And I usually cook it with shrimps and crispy pork belly, and since spinach is in season that’s what I added here and only with pork belly without shrimps.

It is one dish I grew up eating frequently. Not only do I enjoy the ginisang munggo, I also enjoy eating the freshly boiled munggo with sugar for snack. So whenever my nanay was cooking ginisang munggo, she would always save a bowl of the boiled munggo for me.

YOU NEED…….

* 1 cup boiled monggo bean
* 300g Pork belly, sliced
* 1 onion
* 1 tomatoe
* 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
* some vegetable oil
* 500g Spinach
* Fish Sauce (Patis) to taste

HOW TO…….

Boil monggo bean, until done over lower heat.
Heat some oil in a pan, sauté onion, garlic, tomatoe and sliced pork belly until golden brown.
Add the mixture to cooked munggo, stir cover and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes over medium heat.
After you have given it a moment for the flavors to blend, add fish sauce (patis) to taste.
Add spinach and give it a few stirs (they’ll cook fast), and you’re done.