Dinuguan
A Filipino pork blood stew, its name from the Tagalog 'dugo' (blood), known regionally under names like tid-tad in Pampanga and dinardaraan among the Ilocano, nicknamed 'chocolate meat' for its dark color, unrelated to any actual chocolate. It's classically eaten by scooping the stew with puto, steamed rice cakes, a genuine and widespread pairing, not a modern invention. Traditional recipes use pork offal — ears, snout, intestines, heart — alongside some meat, and the vinegar goes in near the end without vigorous stirring, since souring the dish too early interferes with the blood's ability to thicken properly.
Meat
Ingredients
- 500g pork offal (ears, snout, intestines) or pork belly
- 500ml pork blood
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 2 long green chiles
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt, sugar, black pepper
Steps
- Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger.
- Add the pork and brown lightly.
- Add water and the bay leaf, and simmer until tender.
- Stir in the pork blood gradually, simmering gently without boiling hard until thickened into a dark gravy.
- Season with salt, sugar, and pepper, then finish with the vinegar and whole chiles near the end without over-stirring. Serve with puto or rice.