The most pungent of aromas was wafting out of our kitchen a few days ago and since I am on a quasi-diet and my sense of smell is heightened when it comes to food, I just had to get up and stick my head in the kitchen to see what was cooking. Omigosh, a fantastic kawali full of binagoongang baboy (pork with shrimp paste) was the crew’s lunch that day. I love this stuff but I resisted the urge to have some as well as I cannot eat this dish without a LOT of white rice. Throw in some pickles of some sort like burong mangga or achara and I would have consumed nearly a thousand calories in one sitting…
I know many of you are NOT on a diet so I post this simple recipe for your 
benefit… I pity your neighbors, however, if you don’t live in the Philippines, frying bagoong has to be up there on the list of off-putting odors along with frying dried fish. To make cube 1.5-2.0 kilos of pork and place it in a pot, fill with water to cover meat and add 3/4 cup vinegar, several cloves of garlic that have been peeled and crushed, a bay leaf and some whole peppercorns. Boil this gently for about half an hour and skim off the scum that forms on the surface of the liquid. When the pork is tender, extract the meat and strain the other solids out of the broth which should be set aside for use later in the recipe.
In a pan, heat up some vegetable oil and saute some chopped onions and garlic until fragrant and the onions are translucent. Add back the drained pork and 
stir to mix. Add about 3 tablespoons of bagoong (shrimp paste) or more if you desire it, and stir. Add some of the pork broth if your preference is for a more saucy version. The one pictured here is a bit on the dry side. Add some freshly ground black pepper and cook a few minutes longer. another variation would include some chopped siling mahaba to add spice to the dish. Serve this hot with lots of white rice and a green vegetable of some sort. The saltiness of the bagoong and the comforting taste of pork make an unusual but delicious pairing. Which also reminds me, we used to eat sauteed kamias with bagoong as a sawsawan as kids…did anyone else do that? My salivary glands are working overtime!
37 Responses
This is one of my favorite dishes. But, I have to stop eating this because I want to lose weight. This makes me eat a lot of rice!
don’t know if iba is Ilonggo for kamias or the other way around. I remember our then help usually sautes the bagoong with iba and makes the same pork dish with the prepared bagoong. it was quite tasty. unfortunately for me, i am allergic to shrimp paste and have not been able to consume binagoongan dishes since.
Talk about the pungent smell of frying dried fish, my sister was frying ‘danggit’ the other day while my nieces and I were out in the backyard. Suddenly the two little girls started saying “what is that smell? yuck… disgusting… there’s that smell again. what is it?” Hehehe… napaka-un-filipino :)) I can only imagine what the neighbors thought.
I grew up in a terribly health-conscious Filipino household outside of the Philippines so it’s only quite recently that I came to know of such tasty and fattening dishes like binagoongang baboy! When I first heard of binagoongang baboy, I was quite eager to try it because I love bagoong and I love fried pork. Unfortunately, the first binagoongang baboy dish I tried turned out to be an overly saucy and bland restaurant version. (What was all that red sauce??) However, your dish looks exactly like what I pictured when I first heard of binagoongang baboy. Am enjoying the blog much– hope sisig will pop up one of these days!
shane,yes, iba is visayan for kamias. and “hipon” is bagoong. either way, “binagoongan” or “hinipunang” baboy rocks!i usually have it with grilled talong which i dip in the binagoongan and…i gotta go. suddenly, it’s market time.
I concur with Sandra, I consume a lot of steamed rice with this dish.
Make it siling labuyo instead of the siling mahaba. I used to put jalapeno until the roids got me. No more spicy food for me from then on.
Deng…MM those look so good.
Another variation: tenderize the pork in coconut milk. Ginata-an na, binagoongan pa! Be still my heart!
shane, yes Iba is Kamias. Mitch, I have a post on sisig. Check it out here. The blog already has over 750 posts so check out the archives when you are bored… choy, grilled talong sounds like a great side dish… Naz, too funny. Colleen, I like the coconut milk suggestion!
Yup, MM, I have good memories of eating freshly-picked, sliced kamias with bagoong ( and the bagoong had bits of crisp pork fat pa!!!) Yummmmmmm!!!!
MM, that binagoongan really looks good. I think the key to this dish is the kind of bagoong that one uses. What kind of bagoong did you use? We have to use the bottled kind of bagoong here and the sauteed kind (like Barrio Fiesta) is a bit too sweet for this type of dish. The bottled uncooked bagoong ones seem to be loaded with food coloring that they make the pork red (and look gross) as well, not toasty brown like the binagoongan in your photo.
cwid, amazing you would notice/catch that difference… the bagoong was a fresh, uncolored bagoong from the wet markets, a bargain at PHP10 a “baso” or glass. It isn’t as pungent as the bottled ones and it isn’t as oily as well…in fact, it dries up nicely when fried. CecileJ, yes, I do miss that kamias and bagoong mixture…
if there’s anything i like more than binagoongang baboy…..it’s CRISPY binagoongang baboy. like lechon kawali/bagnet crispy. and lots of green chili
we use as a side dish sliced kamias with alamang bagoong for those fried fish days…with itlog na maalat and lots of rice served on banana leaves…..
we cook bagoong with lots of tomatoes…so when we cook it dry, the oil has this orange tinge to it.
ako kahit bagoong lang ulam na.
I do not like the type of bagoong that looks pinkish even after you cook it. Seems hilaw to me. Tska magagalit tatay ko pag mukhang hilaw ang bagoong. kelangan brown and oily with lots of toasted pork fat.
Arrgh, bagoong really is good. I agree, I am not fond of the bright pink variety. I especially like a good bagoong with the greenest of carabao mangoes!
i love eating kamias with tomatoes,onions and bagoong.. sawsawan for fried tilapia or dinaing na bangus.. sarap..
i also love binagoongan with gata.. makes it more yummy.. and makes you eat more rice for your tummy.. hehehe!!
anonymous paul & MM,
My bro-in-law makes a kind of deconstructed Crispy Binagoongan that is served with a sauce made of finely chopped green mangoes, tomatoes and bagoong on top. It’s (almost literally) heart-stoppingly delicious!
Great timing! I’m preparing pork binagoongan for dinner tonight. Although my recipe is the saucier type w/ tomatoes. Anyways, might give your recipe a try for a change.
I think one really has to be filipino to enjoy this dish, which is a bit weird when you think about it (pork with fermented shrimp paste). I happen to love it– with a mountain of steaming white rice, but i wonder what the sodium content is.
ako din, i don’t like the redding sweetish version of bagoong alamang. i prefer the brownish salty bagoong with lots chillies. sarap.
Shane — yes, iba is Ilonggo for kamias. But we still have a better pa-asim in the form of batwan. It is a tall tree but no one can compare with batwan. We also use it for paksiw na isda. Ka namit!
This is one of our favorite dishes. We add seeded, chopped tomatoes to the sauteed garlic and onions in our version. Its saucy but not soupy. I know many people who also put in ampalaya as well, but we put eggplant instead. We add it in about 10 minutes before its done. You want the eggplant to be soft but not mushy.. yum!
This was what I had for lunch today.YUM!! My mom’s version of Binagoongang Baboy has coconut milk. She buys bagoong from a vendor she frequently buys fish from, just to be sure of the bagoong’s quality from the wet market.
She sautes the bagoong with lots of garlic, onion, tomatoes and chilis. She stores much of the bagoong in a sterilized bottle and use some for a Binagoongang Baboy. Her version is saucy with coconut milk and eggplants, she uses slabs of liempo or pork chop.
I rarely eat/order this dish in restaurants. I find most restaurants version not quite good, the bagoong seems uncooked.
I’ll ask my mom to try this dried version, this is probably flavorful.
MM–Thanks for the reply and pointing me to the sisig entry! The first sisig I ever tried was at a Dencio’s in Makati. I took to the crispy skin bits immediately and fell in love in one bite. Haven’t been able to find a comparable sisig since. I’ll be sure to check out the rest of your archives. (I came upon your blog by chance, only less than a week ago!)
Colleen–the coconut milk variation sounds great
Count me in along with people who dislike the pink bagoong. Unfortunately that’s the only kind that most Pinoy groceries in my area sells. It’s way too salty and absolutely horrible for cooking binagoongan, unlike the fresh kind you get in the palengke back home. Because of limited choices, I usually get the cooked and bottled ones sold by Barrio Fiesta, using the spicy instead of the sweet kind. I too like the saucy kind with lots of tomatoes. I will also try the coconut milk in it, thanks.
I get so homesick looking at your tempting dish. I want to prepare the dish tonight.
What is the proportion of meat and fat that you use? It looks like there’s a bit of pork taba here and there, and I don’t mind it as I love taba and I think it gives flavour to the dish, but my husband (non-Filipino) is squeamish when he sees globs it. He loves bagoong and adobo but avoids the taba.
Rowi, use whatever fat/meat mixture you prefer…you could go totally lean or have some fat for flavor. Since the meat is parboiled, a bit of the fat leeches out already…
this is the type of food that makes your nape harden. We have a beautiful way of describing that sensation, “nagahulogot ang tangkugo”. Have you ever felt that way after indulging in pork paradise?
i’m also one of those who don’t like pink bagoong….but i particularly dislike the sweet ones. my mom and aunt only buy raw ones from their suki. if they can’t find the good ones, that is, without food coloring and sugar, they just do one. my aunt usually does her own bagoong using fresh alamang (as in, buhay pa) and salt, then she just leave it covered for a couple of days before sauteeing it with lots of crushed (and browned) garlic and some chili. this is also nice if you’re eating kare-kare….yummy.
Thanks for your reply, MM! But I find that if it’s totally lean, then the pork tends to be dry. Guess, it all depends on the cut of meat that is used. ANyway, i shall give your recipe a try and see what happens! Cheers!
i like my binagoongan with bagnet slices..
MM, i notice that in some chinese restos (north park,etc) have a menu item called lechon macau w/ shrimp paste. how is lechon macau cooked? i know it’s similar to lechon kawali, but what makes it diff? thanks.
Good question. I’m also a fan of Lechon Macau at north park and have asked that question also i.e. the difference between lechon kawali and macau.
I’m not sure but I think it’s that macau has been slightly marinated somewhat by a hoisin or tomato based marinate which explains it’s reddish color while kawali is plain salt and pepper. Let me know if there’s a better answer. Thanks.
I found your site by chance, while looking for days for an authentic visayan bibingka recipe, cooked over charcoal (?)but to no avail. I found just a picture of it but no recipe. I love your blogs and it is now on my favorite lists.
I also found a suman recipe here which I will try soon. Thanks for that post!
i love binagoongan but i don’t usually cook at home that’s why i don’t know much about cooking.fortunately i found your site and now i have something to prepare for my housemates since i’m the only one available to prepare our lunch today.thanks so much.
thank you for posting this this is the first time i will cook this great to see this thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i am planning to cook this same dish tonight and thankfully found your site as i did picked up a tip or two. thanks!
thanks for the recipe! :D i love ’em. cooking isn’t on my list of favorites, but im starting to love it now. somebody told me before the best thing you get from cooking isn’t the praise you get on how good you prepared the meal, but the smile you get from the ones you cooked for. and he is definitely right! keep the smiles coming marketman. :)