Name: Vegetables Stewed in Fermented Shrimp Paste (Pee • nahk • BEHT)
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 2½ tablespoons (37.5 ml) homemade Bagoong or, if store-bought, preferably the lighter, pink variety; 1 tablespoon canola or other neutral oil; 6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped; 1½ tablespoons tomato paste; 2 very ripe tomatoes, halved, then each half cut into quarters; 1 Japanese eggplant, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces; 4 ounces (115 g) long beans, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces; Steamed rice, for serving; ½ bitter melon, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, and cut into ½-inch (12 mm) half-moons; 1 large yellow onion, halved, then each half cut into quarters; 5 ounces (140 g) kabocha squash, peeled and cut into 2-inch (5 cm) chunks; ¾ tablespoon kosher salt; 8 ounces (225 g) okra, ends trimmed

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Filipinx

By Angela Dimayuga and Ligaya Mishan

Published 2021

About

You don’t need a lot of seasonings when ingredients are fresh. So this dish is intentionally simple, the better to showcase the natural bounty. Each vegetable plays a necessary role, from the long beans, crunchy and squeaking, to the bitter melon with its grown-up bite. There’s not too much of any one thing, so you can appreciate and anticipate each part.

All it takes to draw out the flavors is a little garlic, salt, and above all bagoong—a satisfyingly funky paste of fermented shri