An old friend of mine from college named Au recently introduced this wonderful and healthy dish during the recent get-together of our group in Manila. It is called Dinengdeng, Ilocos specialty ( I think). It is so easy to make and it’s main ingredients are vegetables. I am more of a veggie person so naturally I became interested in the dish and immediately emailed her to ask for the recipe. She responded right away and graciously shared the recipe with me.

This dish may look unappetizing for most of you but for me it is heavenly even though I overcooked the squash. I didn’t realize squash cooks faster but it somehow enhanced the sauce, making the dish taste even better. Believe it or not, I had it 4 days in a row

In my recipe of Dinendeng, I used spinach, opo, slices of ginger, tomatoes, yellow orange squash, and bitter melon (ampalaya). My friend Au doesn’t recommend adding ampalaya to the recipe but I thought I would try it anyway because I love it so much. To cut down the bitterness, I soaked the sliced ampalaya first in salty water for some time and it did the trick.

I ate this much four days in a row with only half a cup of rice. Who says half a cup of rice is not enough?

The dish below prepared by Au was the one I was trying to achieve. But for some reasons, mine came out quite a bit darker, probably due to the type of bagoong I used. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with its taste. I mainly gorged on the veggies.

Those who are interested, here is the recipe my friend sent me:

Hi, Belle! Thank you. Mukhang kung saan makakarating ang dinengdeng na ito? hehehe. Yes, so easy to cook dinengdeng puro gulay lang kasi. Magpakulo ka lang ng konting tubig, about 1 cup of water, tapos lagyan ng 4-5 tablespoons bagoong. Dapat mas maalat ng konti to enhance the taste of the veggies. Let it boil, saka ilagay ang sitaw, okra, kalabasa, young leaves of sitaw, kamatis and sibuyas. Para tayong kumakanta ng bahay kubo, di ba? Tapos lahukan ng hipon o inihaw na bangus. Walang vetsin, pero pwede lagyan ng half teaspoon brown to enhance taste. Tandaan saglit lang lulutin ito. Mas masarap kung bagong luto. Don’t cover, ihain agad.
Other tips:
1. May timing ang mga veggies. usually, isang kulo lang para sa mga dahon-dahon; pinakamatagal lutuin ang seeds o ung may seeds like talong, sunod ang sitaw, okra; tapos kalabasa, patola at sa huli mga dahon-dahon
Maraming combination, pero iwasan magsama ang ampalaya at patola sa isang pagluluto.
2. Konting sabaw lang, di masarap ung tipong nasa swimming pool at lumalangoy ang mga gulay. hehehe
3. Ito ang pinakatatandaan na tips (secret ko ito) : hwag dadamihan ang lulutuin, kailangan mejo bitin para sa susunod.. lagi nilang pananabikan ang iyong dinengdeng. hehehe

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