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Title: Balatong (Mung Bean Stew)
Categories: Filipino, Stews
Yield: 4 Servings

1/2 lb Bacon (250 g); finely
-chopped
1 lg Onion; chopped
4 cl Garlic; minced
1 c Dried mung beans (250 g);
-rinsed
14 1/2 oz Can Diced tomatoes
6 c Water (1.5 l)
2 tb Fish sauce; plus more; to
-taste
Salt; to taste
Freshly ground black pepper;
-to taste
1 bn Fresh spinach; washed and
-stems trimmed

Preparaton time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Cook the bacon in a large, deep pot or Dutch oven over medium heat
until the bacon is brown and crisp, 5-7 minutes. Using a slotted
spoon, transfer the bacon bits to a small plate lined with a paper
towel. Set the bacon bits aside. Pour off all but 1 tb of bacon fat
from the pot and return to medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook until the onion becomes
soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the mung beans and stir to
combine, cooking for 1-2 minutes more so that the mung beans absorb
some of the oil in the pot. Pour in the tomatoes, water, and fish
sauce, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the
pot.

Increase the heat to high and bring the pot to a boil. Cover the pot,
reduce the heat to low and simmer until the mung beans are soft and
tender, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. If the stew becomes too thick before the
mung beans have softened, add more water as needed.

Taste the stew and season with salt and pepper and additional fish
sauce if desired. Stir in the spinach--depending on the size of your
pot, you may have to add the spinach in baches. Continue to cook over
low heat until all the spinach softens and wilts down.

Serve the stew in individual bowls and garnish with the reserved bacon
bits.

Notes:
* For a more traditional balatong, omit the bacon and saute the onion
and garlic in vegetable oil. Then stir in some chopped lechon kawali
and simmer the stew as directed.
* You can also use shrimp stock instead of water, as well as add
peeled and deveined raw shrimp to the stew.
* For a thicker balatong, uncover the stew as it simmers. Allow it to
simmer until the mung beans become tender and the stew becomes as
thick as you would like.

Recipe by The Adobo Road Cookbook by Marvin Gapultos, 2013

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