This gising-gising recipe lives up to its name, waking you up with crunchy sigarilyas in a spicy coconut sauce.
A proper gising-gising should stay true to its name—hot enough to wake your tastebuds, with a perfect blend of creaminess and spice. The distinct crisp from the sigarilyas gets you a savory vegetable dish that will send you back to the kitchen for more rice.
Gising-gising hails from Bicol, a region popular for its spicy coconut-based stews. This dish consists of red chilies and thinly sliced green beans (sitaw) or winged beans (sigarilyas) cooked in coconut cream, sometimes with pork. The name translates to "wake up, wake up".
Cook pork: Heat pan on high heat and add oil. Add pork and cook until browned and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.
Cook aromatics: Turn down heat to medium. If pan looks dry, add more oil. Add onion, garlic, ginger, red chili, and bagoong. Stir well until aromatics are soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Cook vegetables: Pour the coconut cream. Toss in sigarilyas and stir until evenly coated. Cover the pan and cook sigarilyas until wilted but slightly crunchy, 10–12 minutes. Give it one last stir, then serve hot with steamed rice.
Use chopped sitaw (long beans). Add them at the last step and cook until no longer rubbery.
If you have kangkong stems to spare, you can chop them up for this kangkong stem gising-gising recipe.
It wouldn't be gising-gising if it weren't spicy! For a milder zing, use green chilies instead.
Yes you can! Coconut milk will produce a slightly thinner sauce, but will have no effect on the taste.
