No series of bean recipes would be complete without an Asian style bean dish. This one has its roots in the food culture of the Philippines. I had never done anything with mung beans besides sprout them until a few months ago when I decided to cook some with onions and garlic and bacon. The taste of cooked mung beans reminded me of black eyed peas. I still had some dried mung beans in the pantry, so I began to look for a recipe that was more authentic.
I asked co-workers and they mentioned several sweet recipes, but only two savory dishes kept being mentioned. Mongo Guisado is one of those recipes. Not having any experience with Mongo Guisado, I collected several recipes, and after some experimentation, I came up with this dish.
I made the dish in two pans. One pan contained the sauteed garlic, onions, and tomatoes.
The other contained the beans, ginger, and Patis (or fish sauce). Once the beans were cooked, the two pans were combined. The shrimp were added, and when they were done, the spinach was stirred into the stew. The stew was ladled into bowls and served. I don’t know if my version of Mongo Guisado is authentic, but it was very good.
Here’s the printable recipe. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
Thanks for Visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.
- 1 cup dry mung beans
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1-2 cups of water
- ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (or to taste)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable or coconut oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- ½ pound of peeled and deveined shrimp (you can substitute chicken or pork for shirmp)
- 5 ounce package of fresh spinach, chopped.
- Check mung beans for debris, rinse, and place in a pot with 3 cups chicken broth and the ginger.
- Place on heat, and bring to boil.
- Cook Beans for 30 - 45 minutes until they begin to soften.
- Add fish sauce and continue to cook beans until they are very tender adding the additional 1-2 cups of water as needed to keep them from drying out. I usually add ½ cup more at a time when the water level begins to drop below the surface of the beans.
- While the beans continue cooking, saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent. (If you are using a meat other than shrimp, begin cooking the meat with the onion and garlic.)
- When onion and garlic are translucent, add diced tomato.
- Continue cooking until tomato begins to disintegrate.
- Add reserved cup of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover until ready to add to beans.
- Chop spinach into bite sized pieces if desired. (You can also just put whole leaves into the dish.)
- When mung beans are tender, stir in onion, garlic, and tomato mixture to the pot of beans.
- Return pot to a boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add shrimp to pot . cover. and allow to cook for 5 minutes or until the shrimp have turned pink.
- Pile raw spinach on top of the stew and cover.
- Allow spinach to steam for about 3 minutes or until it has wilted.
- Stir spinach into beans and mix well.
- Ladle into bowls and serve. My friends from the Philippines insist this must be served with a side of white rice.