Binignit/Ginataan

During Holy Week, we made Binignit. According to Wikipedia:

"Binignit is a vegetable soup from the Visayas region in the Philippines. The dish [1][2][3] is traditionally made by Cebuanos with slices of Saba banana, taro, sweet potato. The people in the neighboring island Leyte, usually include landang (palm flour jelly balls), langka (jackfruit), anise and thickened with milled glutinous rice in cooking binignit. The vegetables along with pearl sago is cooked in a mixture of water, coconut milk and the local landang and sweetened by muscovado or brown sugar.

The soup is usually cooked and eaten during the Holy Week, especially Good Friday when the Visayans are fasting. It also is a popular afternoon snack. The soup is best served when hot. It is comparable to various "guinataan" dishes in other regions such as Bilo bilo."

Actually, binignit is not only cooked in Visayas but in the whole country. :D We have several variations and names for it, but the common ingredients are banana, sweet potatoes, ube or taro, and coconut milk with sugar.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 pcs langka (jackfruit), sliced thinly
• 6-8 pcs saba (ripe banana plantain), sliced into quarters
• 2-3 medium sized camote (sweet potato), sliced into quarters
• 1 cup sago balls/pearls, cooked in water for about 20-30 minutes
• 1 1/2 cups glutinous rice flour, mixed with water to form pliable round balls
• 500 grams grated coconut (mix with 3 cups water and extract coconut milk)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
• 4-5 cups water

Langka

Saba baby!

Camote

Cooked sago balls

Glutinous rice balls

Grated coconut

Directions:

1. Cook camote, saba (plantain bananas), and langka in 4-5 cups water.  This will take about 45 minutes to fully cook everything.  In a separate pan, cook the sago balls in water. Set aside.
2. Once the everything is tender, add the coconut milk extracted.  Let mixture simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
3. Add the cooked sago balls/pearls and the glutinous rice balls. Make sure to stir the mixture every now and then to avoid curdling.
4. Adjust the thickness of the soup by adding glutinous rice flour. Add sugar if you wish.
5. Serve hot.

Langka, banana and camote cooked in water

Tag dos ang takos