P
Filipino
Pinakbet
Pinakbet is the Ilocano people's most distinctive contribution to Philippine cuisine — a minimal-water vegetable stew of bitter melon (ampalaya), eggplant, okra, pumpkin, yard-long beans, and tomato, seasoned with bagoong isda (fermented fish paste) rather than salt, cooked with a tiny amount of pork or shrimp for fat. The dish is defined by the bitter melon's aggressive bitterness — unlike most cuisine traditions that moderate bitter vegetables, pinakbet embraces ampalaya's intensity, balancing it with the deep umami and fermented funk of bagoong isda. The name derives from the Ilocano 'pinakebbet' (shrivelled) — the vegetables are cooked until they wilt and concentrate, developing a complex, deeply savoury character.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
200 g
pork belly
smoked or grilled (liempo), cut into bite-sized pieces
Your own market
1 medium
bitter melon (ampalaya)
halved lengthways, seeds removed, flesh scored and salted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 medium
eggplant
cut into 4 cm pieces
Your own market
200 g
pumpkin
peeled, cut into 3 cm cubes
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
yard-long beans
cut into 5 cm lengths
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
okra
trimmed, left whole or halved
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 medium
3 tbsp
bagoong isda
fermented fish paste — not bagoong alamang
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
fine salt
for drawing bitterness from the ampalaya only
Your own market
60 ml
water
added only if the pan threatens to dry before the vegetables are cooked through
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Score the cut surfaces of the bitter melon with shallow crosshatch cuts. Rub evenly with fine salt and set aside for ten minutes. Rinse briefly under cold water — do not soak — and pat dry. The melon should retain colour and a firm hand-feel; flesh that has collapsed or turned dull green has lost too much moisture.
2
Place the pork belly pieces in a cold, dry pan and set over medium heat. Render until the fat has run and the Maillard crust from the pre-grilling or smoking has begun to dissolve into the fat pooling in the pan. The pan will smell of wood smoke and caramelised pork. Remove the pork and reserve; leave the rendered fat in the pan.
3
Add the tomatoes to the rendered fat and cook, stirring, until they have collapsed and their liquid has reduced to a thick, fragrant paste coating the base of the pan. Stir in the bagoong isda. This is the seasoning base of the dish — it must not be augmented with additional salt. The paste will smell pungent, fermented, and deeply savoury; this is correct.
From the canon — The production technique (bagoong alamang): harvest fresh alamang (krill-sized shrimp, Acetes species). Bagoong (Fermented Shrimp/Fish Paste) →
4
Return the pork to the pan. Add the pumpkin and eggplant, arranging them over the paste. Cover tightly and cook over medium-low heat. The vegetables cook in their own steam and the paste's liquid — no water is added at this stage. After five to seven minutes, the pumpkin will have begun to yield at its edges when pressed with a spoon.
5
Add the yard-long beans, pressing them into the vegetables already in the pan. Cover and cook for a further three to four minutes, until the beans are bright green and offer slight resistance when pressed — they must not go limp at this stage, as further cooking remains.
6
Add the bitter melon and okra. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until all vegetables have shrivelled and concentrated — the Ilocano 'pinakebbet' state — and the pan is moist but not soupy. This is where the dish lives or dies: sufficient heat and time are required for the vegetables to wilt and the flavours to unify around the bagoong isda, but excess liquid or excess time will produce a waterlogged stew without the concentrated savour that defines pinakbet. If the pan threatens to dry before the melon is cooked through, add no more than 60 ml of water. The finished dish should hold its shape when spooned; the liquid should be thick and cling to the vegetables.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Home-cured or artisan bagoong isda made from a single small fish species, fermented for a minimum of six months; heritage ampalaya varieties with pronounced bitterness; smoked liempo from a whole-animal butcher.
02
Estate — Commercially produced bagoong isda from a known Ilocano producer; market-fresh bitter melon selected for deep green, unblemished skin; grilled pork belly from a reliable butcher.
03
Market — Supermarket bagoong isda — confirm it is fish-based, not shrimp-based; standard bitter melon; raw pork belly, rendered in the pan without prior smoking or grilling.
04
House — Any available bagoong isda; bitter melon salted conservatively to preserve what bitterness remains; pork substituted with shell-on shrimp for fat and flavour.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Salted bitter melon retains a firm hand-feel and has not collapsed; it holds its scored shape when picked up.
◇Smell. The bagoong-tomato base smells pungent, fermented, and deeply savoury before the vegetables are added — the signal that the paste has cooked into the fat.
◇Touch. Pumpkin yields at its edges under light spoon pressure before the beans and bitter melon are added.
◇Sight. All vegetables have visibly shrivelled and concentrated; the cooking liquid is thick and clings to the vegetables rather than pooling freely in the pan.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies in the final covered cook: the vegetables must reach the shrivelled, concentrated state of pinakebbet — moist but never soupy — with the bagoong isda unifying every element; water dilutes this beyond recovery.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
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Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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