Is Kapampangan monggo the ultimate ginisang monggo? With its abundance of seafood and chicharon, we definitely think so!
Pampanga-style monggo requires more prep and seafood than you might be used to. Before cooking, dry monggo beans are soaked overnight to loosen their green shells, which get removed and discarded the next day. Plump shrimps, together with pork belly, provide protein. The monggo is seasoned with alamang guisado instead of patis, which provides a briny, complex saltiness. Tinapa flakes garnish the final dish.
But if you love pork, don’t despair—this monggo has lots of chicharon.
With all its bells and whistles, this ultimate monggo is fit for celebrations. Make it for a special occasion or family get-together.
Prepare monggo: Add monggo to a bowl. Add water until beans are submerged. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. The next day, squeeze monggo with both hands to remove their green shells, exposing yellow beans. Repeat until most beans have been deshelled. Some green beans here and there are okay.
Cook pork and shrimp: Heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add pork belly and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is cooked and one side has formed a golden brown crust. Add shrimp and cook until opaque and pink in color.
Cook aromatics: Add red onion and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook until soft. Add alamang guisado and stir until meat and tomatoes are evenly coated.
Cook monggo: Pour water into the pot and add peeled monggo. Increase heat to high. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low and maintain a gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching the bottom, until stew has thickened.
Add vegetables: Add camote tops or dahon ng sili. Cook and stir until soft, about 2 minutes. Add siling haba, if using, and chicharon. Stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed. If the monggo looks dry at this point, add water.
Serve: Transfer monggo to a serving bowl. Garnish with tinapa flakes and crushed chicharon. Enjoy with hot rice.
Ancestral wisdom says it helps relieve post-monggo gas. Peeled beans also change the monggo's color from bright green to yellow-brown. They taste the same as unpeeled beans, so skipping the deshelling step is okay if you're feeling lazy!
Soft, flavorful greens like spinach and malunggay work great in monggo.
We like our monggo thick, so this recipe yields a dry monggo. If you like yours soupier, add as much water as you need until you reach your desired consistency.
