Killer! In EVERY sense of the word. Trimmings or leftovers from the Zubuchon adventure has Marketman’s brain on overdrive, thinking of new uses for lechon “extras”. This concoction seemed like a natural; instead of pork, why not use lechon legs/feet, which are chockful of flavor and some gelatin still. This turned out so good it will definitely make it into that mythical cookbook I plan to write some day, if I ever get to it. I have written about munggo before, first our cook’s basic recipe here from September 2005, then my first version here with shrimps and shrimp broth and again here done a year ago, then a tapilan (related bean) with coconut milk and batuan recipe here. But this lechon version is what should make most carnivores hearts’ sing… :)
First, make a broth from some leftover lechon feet and ankles, I used two of them, just make sure youo give the toenails a nice pedicure first. Just boil in water for about 1 hour with some onions, leeks, tomatoes, peppercorns then strain and set aside. Next, soften mung beans in another pot with water if you like to do this separately, or you could do it all in one pot. In the original pot (no need to wash it), add some vegetable oil and add the lechon pieces back to brown a bit, then add some sliced onions, garlic and tomatoes and let them saute for a few minutes. Don’t worry if you seem to get a caramelized crust at the bottom of the pan, you WANT that. I also threw in some leeks, chopped chicharon then added some of the lechon broth. Next add the mung beans and lechon broth and cook until tender (if you cooked them separately, this won’t take very long at all). This batch was a bit too soupy and overcooked as I left it to the cook while I ran out to get some malunggay leaves. You can adjust liquid to the desired levels.
To season, I added generous amounts of salt, some good thai patis or fish sauce and freshly ground black pepper. I also added one sliced finger chili or siling mahaba earlier. When it was all looking good (taste several times for seasoning adjustments)j, I threw in some malunggay (moringa) leaves and some talbos ng sayote or chayote tendrils and took it off the heat. Spoon into a serving bowl and top generously with more chopped chicharon.
Oh my goodness. This was absolute heaven in a bowl. I could have easily feasted on this and rice alone. But we had a grilled fish as well, thinking we would be eating healthily at lunch… :) I realize some folks who didn’t grow up with mung beans might find them a bit bland, starchy or muddy… but with all these other things thrown into the pot it was tasty, meaty, flavor-packed and a mouthfull (or several mouthfulls) of goodness. This we will have again and again over the coming year… :)
55 Responses
I can definitely say, “this dish is worth dying for.” Yummy!
Nothing beats munggo topped with chicharon and eaten with fried fish! Haven’t had this in ages, hubby is plagued with gout. Legumes are a no, no!
sarap naman, mm. we will be having this dish tonight, looking forward to it. :)
Marketman, ano ba ‘yan!!! Tuesday night pa lang ngayon dito, biglang nais kong maging Biyernes na! Ang alam ko, ito ang ulam ng mga Tagalog kapag Biyernes, along with grilled or fried fish. Tanong ko noong bata pa ako kung bakit Biyernes lang niluluto sa aming household ang ulam na ito, saka bakit laging isda ang katambal. This is a classic—hindi pagsasawaan kahit pa ano ang trip mong sahog. With Zubuchon and chicharon tiyak na malasang-malasa nga. Pahingi naman, o?
I am not in Manila (actually vacationing in cold South Dakota for a few months) and im already very homesick with this post. Monggo is my comfort food and this just makes me crave a little more! Nice post, MM… Will look forward to having this when I get home! :)
Fortunately, we are also having munggo for today. Although there is no Zubuchon or any other lechon but will definitely put some chopped chicharon on it. Now i have to fry the boneless bangus. Have a great meal everyone!
good idea adding sayote shoots to the dish. i used to live in sagada and ate talbos ng sayote sauteed in a little oil with lots of garlic and some salt almost every day.
We had this munggo dish after Christmas and I used the leftover ham plus the bone and celery and alugbati for the greens from our garden. It was delicious !!
MM. lami man na kaayo uy! For that, I will take two Cholest Off tablets to filter all the cholesterol in the munggo guisado. Adding ampalaya leaves will also be a good counterpoint to the zubuchon and chicharon fat. But the fat really doesn’t matter, as Eej wrote, the dish looks so yummy, it is worth dying for. Thanks MM.
I do this everytime we have left-over lechon.:)
Brillant idea! Thanks for sharing this!
comfort food for me! yummy
ditto, mdg, yummy comfort food!! that appears to be why those upscale restaurants in NY have been fixated on ‘comfort food’ like noodles, pork bellies, salmon skin, etc. etc.
I actually made a comment about this kind of lechon-munggo pairing in one of your earlier munggo posts. LOL My mom makes this whenever there’s lechon around. Super YUM!
If given a choice between lechon and mungo, I will take the mungo anytime, hot or cold. My absolute comfort food! Now, with Zubuchon in it? That’s to die for.
Hmmmm, I guess an order of lechon kawali from SeafoodCity should suffice for now. I will close my eyes on the price of malungay leaves and will substitute ampalaya if nalungay is not available.
Such is the life of living abroad. A life of substitution!
My mom use to cook this on friday too especially if holy week is approaching. oh she always partner it with either paksiw na bangus or tilapia. Mixing the munggo and the paksiw will give you that distinct flavor and eating it with your bare hand :)
wow MM, this looks wonderful and must be good, ginisang munggo is my all TIME fave especially with extra ampalaya leaves, can’t wait to try your version. ^^,x
MM,
Nagutom ako sa post mo. Now I am a food nostalgia.
MM,
Nagutom ako sa post mo. Now I am having a food nostalgia.
MM,pwede po ba akong maging yaya nyo? hehehhehehhe,para makatikim naman ng mga niluluto mo… hehehhe,
para naman sayo atbnorge, eto lang ang alam ko kung bakit every friday ,may kaugnayan yan sa mahal na araw, yung tinatawag na good friday, dito natin ginagawa yung fasting, so kinaugalian na ng mga matatanda na kapag friday,medyo fasting ng konti… hehehehhe i hope it make sense….. Good day!
yum yum!!!! I will do this the next time we have some left over zubuchon :D
abot dito ang amoy!
MM!!!!
I have been hankering for munggo since monday! This post is no help but has made me drool! I can just taste the lechon and chicharon!
Too bad Mr. Bourdain is not here to taste this! :)
Wow! All my favorite things in one bowl! It would certainly make my heart sing :)
wow! my mom used to sprinkle chicharon bits on top, but i think lechon would work better. she would serve this on fridays paired with fish escabeche. i like the soupy version. some versions are too thick and porridge-y. my husband likes his with a ton of ampalaya leaves, so we tease him by calling it “ginisang ampalaya leaves with monggo”.
OMG it’s a heart attack in the making!!! But it definitely is and looks delicious!!! Darn it MM, you always keep us on our toes with these dishes…hmmm, another dish to be on the list.
It is getting cold here and this is one rare moment where a blog post and a photo has kept me warm.
yes, ginisang munggo is a Friday food but since this is a favorite, we always have this at least once or twice a week. We saute the monggo with bagoong alamang (shrimp) and add talbos ng ampalaya. With lechon and chicharon toppings, wow, we need to double the rice to be cooked as this will be a super special ginisang monggo. thanks for sharing.
We just had this a couple of days ago with fried tilapia. It’s one of my favorite food pairings :)
yummy! this reminds me of the way munggo is cooked at my lolas house, with generous bits of chicharon thrown in with the malunggay leaves. but this! this takes it up a notch, it can already be a main dish. hehe
wow, super special a.
masubukan nga sa friday.
The dish I cook when I’m depressed Munggo. Would have to try cooking it with lechon sometime. I like adding dahon ng sili.
I love it. I love munggo. I think like a lot of people who’ve commented, Friday lunch for us when we were young meant munggo and fried fish. This tradition waned when my mom delegated the responsibility of thinking what dishes should be cooked for various meals. When she passed away, this tradition stopped altogether. Now, we don’t really cook munggo because my brothers suffer from gout, but munggo remains a favorite. I think we should certainly have it this week though …
just looking at the photos made my knees scream “don’t you dare!” but arthritis or none, i will definitely try this! the first spoonful is dedicated to you Lee!
yummy!!! one of my favourite comfort meals!!
Hi, this munggo version is a standout, i have some leftover lechon in the freezer, i will have to do it this way, i ‘ll just have to buy chicharon from the asian store…. thanks.
that dish is a “gout bomb”. The combination mungo and pork fat. Definitely a good idea for left over lechon than the usual paksiw.
I love munggo but have not cooked it in a long long time. Which method is better, cooking it separately or cooking it all in one pot?
masubukan nga!
moni, i agree with the addition of talbos ng ampalaya to the munggo. aprilful, my hubby has the same problem but he drinks a lot of water straight after eating legumes, pork fat, prawns etc, — ‘gout bomb’ dishes, as described by Ariel.
My Father (from Ilocos) had Crohns and ate mungo and ground pork with some greens everyday. He swore it saved his life.
Unfortunately, it also gave him gout from the mung beans.
Nakakainis ka naman MM. Kung kelan dapat mag-diet na dahil sa dami ng kinain over the holidays, meron ka namang munggo with lechon. Definitely an aha recipe and moment. Daanin na lang sa dami ng talbos at malunggay. That statement about giving the pigs’ toenails a nice pedicure was funny.
another childhood favorite! whenever our yaya makes this, i ask for her to set aside boiled munggo (yung wala pang timpla, just munggo boiled in water). during snack time, i’ll mix the boiled munggo with milo and milk. super yummy merienda. if my patience allows, i’ll freeze the munggo+milo+milk and eat it like a popsicle the next day. another variation is munggo+ricoa chocolate+condensed milk. my brothers always found it weird. which is ok with me kasi i didn’t want to share hahaha
Wow ginisang munggo is my favorite comfort food and I’ll definitely try this lechon variation. Thanks MM and happy new year to you, family and crew.
The photos nearly moved me to tears, MM. Food can be so evocative. This dish is such a winner!
Good Lawd MM!!! I love balatung!!! I have made it with pork, ham, spam, shrimp, salt pork, chicharon and even thick bacon, but never with lechon! Living in Texas limits my access to Lechon, but from here on out when I do get some in the future the leftovers won’t automatically become paksiw.
MM,
This means I can use the ham bone in the freezer instead of the pork hocks. I can’t wait to try this with the kids again. I love this Filipino comfort food especially on rainy days like today.
Thanks again,
Jr.
@I Love Sta. Rosa, eating munggo on Friday has something to do with Holy Friday since we are not supposed to eat meat on that day and it is rich in protein—it makes sense! Thanks for the info.
Reading this post, bigla akong naghalungkat sa aming larder kung meron akong munggo; ubos na!!!! Kidney beans at chick peas na lang ang meron. Have to buy—MUST BUY—dahil mayroon akong maisasahog na chicharon dito. Madalas akong bumili ng ampalaya sa oriental store na malapit. Pero kung wala akong mabili ay spinach ang pang-substitute ko. Hindi kumpleto kapag walang green talaga.
hungrycurious,
your post made me laugh! :-) Matagal na akong naghahanap ng ice munggo. Yung condensed milk/Ricoa version mo ba ay frozen din?
I love munggo w pork or shrimp but never imagined using lechon left-over this way & chicharon besides! Wow – the heck w cholesterol levels – that’s what Lipitor is for!
yeah , when my lola was still around we usually have guinisang munggo and fried fish on Fridays.And when I asked why, she said it was following the tradition of fasting on Good Friday—fasting one day(Fridays) a week for the whole year! But with MM’s version, surely we will be committing the sin of Gluttony instead! :)
wow, title pa lang nakakagutom na! cant go wrong with the 3 key ingredients of this dish! this will go so well with paksiw na bangus (na may big belly!) and sinangag with lots of garlic! yum-oh!!!
THIS IS GREAT! I LOVE THE LECHON, CHITCHARON AND THE MONGO BEANS! I’M ADDING IN SOME BABY AMPALAYA AND LOTS OF AMPALAYA LEAVES, AS WELL …
this is the type of munggo i like most topped with chicharon from cebu..yummy..
it looks good.. i have to cook that for me..