Dinuguan na may kalabasa recipe (Pork blood stew with squash recipe)

Unusual food to eat when in Philippines? Try balut. A duck embryo boiled in water. Vendors usually sell inside their baskets together with penoy, (another popular street delicacy in Philippines) biking around in our place right after the sun sets in. This is best with vinegar and salt.

Another equally unusual but popular food that most Filipino loves is the dinuguan. Dinuguan is from the word dugo (blood) so the main ingredient here is the dugo - the pig's blood. Best combo for this is the rice cake or puto in Philippines.

As a Muslim country, you will expect that United Arab Emirates doesn't allow businesses with pork, but UAE is very open to such but to limited stores unlike other Muslim countries that dont allow at all. The 2 stores where you can buy pork here in Abu Dhabi are the Spinneys and Abela.

I work from 9 AM to 2 PM​ on Saturdays so I still have a​ large amount of time to cook this dish and spend time with my family. Unlike the original dinuguan where mostly use pork's small and large intestines, I use the belly part and with squash.

To this dish, ingredients are:

1 kg. pork belly - cut into small cubes
1/4 kg of squash - cut into small cubes
1 large onion - diced
2 tablespoon ginger - diced
5 cloves of garlic - diced
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
4 chili peppers
3/4 cup vinegar
2 and 1/2 cup water
1 pork cube
2 cups pork's blood
2 pcs lemongrass
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a pot, heat cooking oil saute garlic, onion, ​ and ginger. When it becomes translucent, add the belly and saute for 5 minutes or until the meat becomes light brown.

2. Add water and the pork cubes. Boil until the meat becomes tender.

1. Add the squash and boil for 2 minutes. Then pour in the vinegar, reboil and add the chili​ peppers and lemongrass​.

2. Lastly, pour in the pig's blood, mix well and boil for 5 minutes. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

3. Serve hot.

Do you have unusual food in your country to share? Drop the link below and maybe I'm​ going to love it too. :)