Binagoongang Baboy (Pork in Shrimp Paste)

Binagoongang Baboy is a traditional Filipino food recipe which is cooked with pork and shrimp paste. Bagoong alamang (salted shrimp paste)  is a condiment that is served as appetizer or side dish when served with dishes like kare kare (beef and vegetable stew with peanut sauce and oxtail) and pinakbet (mixed vegetables in shrimp paste.) It is also served as sawsawan or dipping for green mango and grilled or fried fried fish. Bagoong could be a viand (entree) itself if cooked with pork and this dish is called binagoongang baboy. Other variation of the dish is the binagoongang baboy sa gata (pork in shrimp paste and coconut milk.)  Bagoong alamang is made from minute shrimp or krill (alamang.)

Since I live in the USA now and I can't make my bagoong alamang (shrimp paste) from scratch, I used the ready-to-eat shrimp paste from the Asian store.  To make it less salty, I put the shrimp paste in a strainer and rinse it with hot water.  This removes the excess salt.  I provided the procedure for making your own bagoong alamang at home below the recipe for binagoongang baboy.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pork liempo (pork belly)
• 1 cup water (for boiling pork)
• 1/4 cup shrimp bagoong
• 4 cloves garlic; minced
• 1 small onion; chopped
• 1 medium tomato; sliced in 8
• 1 teaspoon Philippine bird's eye pepper (siling labuyo)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 eggplant; cut in slices (optional)
• 8 pieces small okra, cut in half (optional)

Procedure:

1. Boil pork in a pan until tender and until the all water has evaporated and meat starts to cook on its own fat. Cut into cubes. Set aside.
2. Sauté garlic, onion, and tomato in a pan over medium heat. Add pork and shrimp bagoong. Stir fry for few minutes until pork starts to render fat and edges turn to brown.
3. Add vinegar and chili peppers. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with sugar and drop the eggplant and okra. Continue cooking in low fire until the vegetables are done.
4. Serve hot over steamed rice. 
    

Suggestions:

• Enrich your binagoongang baboy by adding vegetables to it like okra and eggplant.
• If you want to make it sweeter than saltier, increase the amount of sugar added to it.
• If you want it creamier, you can add coconut milk after adding the pork and shrimp paste and simmer to develop the flavor.
• If you want it more tangy, add more vinegar to it.
• To give it a more diverse flavor, add ginger and drop a bayleaf or two towards the end of cooking.

Here's how to make your home-made shrimp paste:

1. In a bowl wash alamang  (minute shrimp or krill) and drain using strainer. Shake the strainer to remove the water.
2. Add 3-4 tablespoons of salt for every kilo of alamang then mix using ladle then pour it in clean bottle, cover air tight and put under the sun for 4-6 days or until the shrimp ferments.