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Balatong with Marungay and Pumpkin Flower
Background
This is a very simple dish - a sort of Ilocano dhal - and on its own it's
great for lunch. Its beauty comes from the use of authentic and very fresh
ingredients.
Balatong
Balatong are small dried green-skinned beans a little larger than lentils,
also known as mungo or mung beans. They are commonly used to grow bean
sprouts.
Native garlic
Garlic from Badoc in Ilocos Norte is the best (Badoc is
garlic capital of the Philippines) but any Ilocos garlic works well in
this dish: Ilocos garlic has small cloves packed with flavour.
Marungay
Leaves from
the marungay tree (moringa
oleifera) are readily available all over the
Philippines but it seems that the Ilocanos are the only people to use them
in their food and most Ilocanos have at least a couple of marungay trees
in their garden. Marungay can
sometimes be found in Hong Kong if you know where to look.
Pumpkin flowers
These should be as fresh as possible, ideally picked in
the morning for breakfast or lunch.
Salted fish
A staple ingredient in many Filipino dishes, not to be confused with its
Ilocano cousin Bago'ong (fermented fish).
Try switching some of the ingredients: drop the marungay
and use thin sticks of local aubergine (eggplant). You can also spice it up with
a little cayenne pepper.
Ingredients
-
Half a cup
of balatong
-
One cup of
water
-
Several
cloves of native garlic
-
A little
cooking oil
-
A handful of fresh marungay leaves (stems removed)
-
A handful
of freshly picked pumpkin flowers
-
Salted
fish for seasoning
Method
Add the
balatong to the water in a thick-based saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and stir occasionally. Meanwhile very slightly crush
several cloves of native garlic; the garlic should be more or less still
intact rather than mashed to bits. Gently fry the garlic in a little oil
until it just starts to turn golden brown then pour everything into the
pot with the balatong. After the balatong has been simmering for about
ten minutes stir in the (whole) pumpkin flowers followed a couple of
minutes later by the marungay leaves. Season to taste and add a little
more water if necessary to prevent the mixture getting too dry but don't
add too
much as the marungay and pumpkin flowers will release moisture as they
cook. Don't overcook the marungay - it only needs a couple of minutes.
The dish can
be served as a meal in itself (serves 2) with steamed rice or try serving it to accompany grilled fish. |
