My mother taught me and my sisters this recipe, we were in college and on our own in the city and she said that we better learn how to cook some of the dishes that she’s cooking for us so we wouldn’t miss home that much. If it were just up to us, we were fine with canned goods or boiling some noodles and eggs, but our mother won’t have it, she told us not to be lazy and try to cook real food as much as possible.
My mom is a working mom but she always have time to cook for us and she is one great cook, her adobo and dinuguan are the best. This dish igado, is just one of the many dishes she’s taught us, she told us to make it in large quantity and store it in the fridge for reheating. It’s one of my favorites, it is like a kinilaw, only it is cooked.
It is not a very popular Filipino dish, a lot of people are not familiar with this including my husband, but when I cooked this for him, he instantly liked it; he suggested I put in more chili peppers, to make it really hot. It is now one of his favorites. It’s quite easy to make except for the preparation, you have to cut the meat and liver into small cubes fortunately now, you can ask the meat vendor to do this for you (yay!).
It keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days, you can even leave it out at room temperature for a day or two, my mother said that it’s okay to leave it at room temperature because of the vinegar in it, just like the adobo, it won’t go bad but I never tried it beyond a day, I don’t want to risk it, that’s what a fridge is for – keeping food safe to eat.
You can make this dish as hot and spicy (better) as you like or with just a hint of spice and heat.
HOT AND SPICY IGADO
Ingredients:
1/2 k pork (shoulder part) cut into small cubes
1/4 k pork liver, cut the into small cubes
1 large red onion, minced
ginger root, crushed and slice thinly into strips
green / finger chili peppers, sliced thinly
1-2 red bellpeppers, slice into strips
black ground pepper
salt
patis (fish sauce)
1/2 cup white vinegar
cooking oil
1/2 cup water
Directions:
Heat some oil (1-2 tbsps) in a big pan or medium-sized saucepan. Saute minced onion, add the pork, cook until no longer pink, then add the liver, season with a little salt and lots of ground pepper; cook until brown then add the ginger, cook for about a minute then add vinegar, don’t stir, bring to a boil then add green chilli peppers and red bellpeppers, 1/2 cup water and season with patis. Stir and bring to a boil; cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until 3/4 of the liquid has evaporated. Taste it, adjust seasoning if necessary. Turn off heat. Serve with steamed rice. Yumm!
Happy Cooking!
Olive
Hot and Spicy Igado
Ingredients
- 1/2 K PORK SHOULDER PART CUT INTO SMALL CUBES
- 1/4 K PORK LIVER CUT THE INTO SMALL CUBES
- 1 LARGE RED ONION MINCED
- GINGER ROOT CRUSHED AND SLICE THINLY INTO STRIPS
- GREEN / FINGER CHILI PEPPERS SLICED THINLY
- 1-2 RED BELLPEPPERS SLICE INTO STRIPS
- BLACK GROUND PEPPER
- SALT
- PATIS FISH SAUCE
- 1/2 CUP WHITE VINEGAR
- COOKING OIL
- 1/2 CUP WATER
Instructions
- HEAT SOME OIL (1-2 TBSPS) IN A BIG PAN OR MEDIUM-SIZED SAUCEPAN. SAUTE MINCED ONION, ADD THE PORK, COOK UNTIL NO LONGER PINK, THEN ADD THE LIVER, SEASON WITH A LITTLE SALT AND LOTS OF GROUND PEPPER; COOK UNTIL BROWN THEN ADD THE GINGER, COOK FOR ABOUT A MINUTE THEN ADD VINEGAR, DON’T STIR, BRING TO A BOIL THEN ADD GREEN CHILLI PEPPERS AND RED BELLPEPPERS, 1/2 CUP WATER AND SEASON WITH PATIS. STIR AND BRING TO A BOIL; COVER THE PAN, LOWER THE HEAT AND SIMMER FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES, OR UNTIL 3/4 OF THE LIQUID HAS EVAPORATED. TASTE IT, ADJUST SEASONING IF NECESSARY. TURN OFF HEAT. SERVE WITH STEAMED RICE. YUMM!