Let’s take a break from all those meaty recipes and go for something mainly vegetables today, okay? Pinakbet is a proudly Filipino vegetable dish, hailed from the Northern regions. Made with a mix of vegetables that are sautéed in fish sauce or shrimp paste or both, this dish surely is punching with flavor and freshness! If you are curious about its name, then let us tell you a short background about it: Pinakbet came from the Ilocano word pinakebbet which means shrunk or shriveled in english. We think this dish is called what it is since vegetables shrink once cooked.

As we have mentioned, Pinakbet is made with an array of vegetables and those vegetables present are usually bitter gourd, eggplant, tomato, okra, string beans, and squash. Others include camote, ginger, and even chilis. Truly, this shows just how much of a vegetable dish Pinakbet really is, right? However, this dish is not solely filled with vegetables because of course, you can also add some protein into it such as lechon, chicharon, pork, or even seafood like shrimp. Indeed, Pinakbet has a lot of versions and it’s all on you whether or not you want it to be purely of vegetables or not.

As much as Pinakbet came from the Northern regions, it undeniably has made its rounds to other regions in the Philippines too. It is honestly one of the popular Ilocano dishes that many households have included in their meals from time to time regardless if they are Ilocano or not.

Currently, there are two well-known versions of Pinakbet – the Pinakbet Ilocano and the Pinakbet Tagalog. There is not much of a difference between the two, other than the type of bagoong used. The Pinakbet Ilocano uses fermented fish or bagoong isda while the Pinakbet Tagalog uses bagoong alamang or bagoong isda. Both of these Pinakbet versions are good so it is honestly just a matter of bagoong preference if you are going to cook Pinakbet.

Besides its bagoong, it is also important to note that the freshest vegetables that you could get your hands on are the most ideal to use in Pinakbet. This is because you will not only get that desired crunch and bite, but also there will be this subtle veggie sweetness that would balance the strong flavor of the bagoong.

With all that out of the way, we hope you will be able to decide on which bagoong to use so you could start making your own Pinakbet. You can also follow our Pinakbet recipe to a T if you feel like totally recreating ours.