Ratatouille--Philippine Style

Pinakbet is a lot like ratatouille, except that in my opinion, it's tastier. My Ilocano grandmother always made hers the traditional way, no sauteeing, just piling the vegetables in a deep pan, drizziling it with fish bagoong--cover and cook until vegetables are tender. I like making mine the modern way. I saute onions, tomatoes and garlic and then I add vegetables. I also like topping mine with chicharon (pork crackling), bagnet (Ilocano version) is still the best but ordinary chicharon will do. Before i work with eggplant and ampalaya, i slice them first and sprinkle a bit of iodized salt, leave them for 5 minutes then rinse. This is to remove the bitterness.

PINAKBET

Red Onion, sliced thinly 1 piece

Tomatoes, sliced into wedges 2 pieces

Garlic cloves, minced 8 pieces

Baby eggplants, sliced into quarters lengthwise 5 pieces

Baby ampalaya (bitter gourd), sliced lengthwise 4 pieces

Okra, sliced into half crosswise 10 pieces

Squash, peeled and cubed 100 grams

String beans 100 grams

Canola Oil 2 tablespoons

Salt and Pepper to taste

Bagoong (Shrimp paste) 2 teaspoons

Wash vegetables. Slice amplaya legthwise, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon, sprinkle salt and leave for five minutes, rinse. Slice eggplants into quarters and sprinkle with salt, leave for 5 minutes then rinse. Set aside. Peel and slice squash into cubes.

Preheat pan with canola oil, add sliced onions and cook until fragrant and translucent. Add tomatoes (cut into wedges) and continue cooking. When tomatoes have broken down, add minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add squash, ampalaya, eggplants, okra and string beans. Cover pan and let cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock (about 1/4 cup) and bagoong. Cover and cook until vegetables have softened around 10 minutes.