Pinakbet without bagoong
The title of the entry sounds sacrilegious, I know. Pinakbet without bagoong. Well, tough. I am allergic to bagoong (shrimp paste) and even its fish version. In fact, there are certains brands of patis (fish sauce) that do not agree with me as well. Ironically, I love the Ilocano classic dish called pinakbet–not for the bagoong-flavored sauce but for the wonderful mixture of vegetables. And I always felt a little deprived when, growing up, everyone in the family could enjoy a hearty meal of pinakbet except me.
When I learned to cook, I would make pinakbet by substituting patis (the milder varieties) for bagoong. It satisfied the craving in a way but it lacked something. Then, two weeks ago, I bought a bottle of tuyo (salted dried herrings) soaked in olive oil intending to use it as one would use anchovies. I used a few pieces of tuyo with pasta (wonderful–will post the recipe within the week) and then wondered what I would do with the rest. Why not cook pinakbet? So, I did. 
The cooked dish is less pungent though it has that distinct fishy aroma that characterizes the traditional pinakbet. The best part was that I could actually eat it without fear of getting a bum stomach afterwards.
If you’re one of those Filipinos living abroad who want to introduce your partner or your friends to the more exotic side of Filipino cuisine, you might want to break them in by using tuyo in olive oil in lieu of bagoong when introducing them to pinakbet.
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27 Responses to “Pinakbet without bagoong”
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heheh dami ko nakain nun.
Connie, kapampangans use tinapa as flavoring for pinakbet or any similar vegetable dish. They also use grilled fish (mudfish or catfish specifically). Try it. You will not get the ‘bite’ of fermented or dried fish, but still have the savory fish flavor.
Hi Connie,
You really a creative person i salute for you.At least now you can enjoy your own pinakbet version.Loved pinakbet but where we are is can’t get ingredients for pinakbet.Like okra,small aubergine,snake etc.Nagugutom tuloy ako sa pinakbet mo.
I thought that Pinakbet has bagoong already.
Leah, wow, tinapa sounds wonderful! I love tinapa!
Gena, creativity borne out of desperation hehehe perhaps you can use other veggies for your own version of pinakbet too!
RR, the bagoong is stirred in before adding the vegetables.
hi Connie: great idea! I live in Manhattan, and the best substitute I could get would be anchovies in olive oil. wow, I love pinakbet, and I will try your version, but with anchovy fillets instead. T H A N K S !
Les, pinakbet, Italian-style? Sounds wonderful!
Hi Connie, pinakbet looks yummy..
Although, more intrested in your anchovies pasta, hmmm how did you do that dish??
Cheers, Gina
Hi Gina! A little suspense. Will post the pasta recipe soon.
A little off topic - but I really like the new blog design you have at the moment
Are you going to place links to your other blogs on this one? (or am I just not finding them…)
Thank you, Rose. Looks fresh and bright, doesn’t it? Actually, I didn’t change the layout, just the background images. Re links to other blogs. The photos on the sidebar links directly to the latest entries in Pinoy Food Talk. Let’s see if there’s enough space to add links to the other blogs.
hi!
just want to know…
this is good for how many people? we’re only 2 at home and sometimes we cant even finish a single dish… i find it hard to cook just for 2 people… receipes that i want to cook is always good for 4 or 6.
i want to try this one sana…
most of the recipes here are good for 4-5 persons, sam.
I’ve been doing the bagoong-less version lately too since my youngest won’t touch anything with fish or shrimps in it, and you can’t fool her either. She’ll smell it even if you tried to hide it :lol::lol:
ay, no ampalaya? pinakbet is *not* pinakbet without ampalaya in it, hehehe!
She’s your challenge, JMom.
Celo, that kind of mentality is something that keeps cooks from becoming creative adventurous. I suggest you get over it.
AnG SaRaP!!!!
Hi Connie, I live in London and I bought a bottle of anchovy sauce a few weeks ago na hindi malansa (siguro dahil british made). I bought it in Sainsburys if you’re familiar with it. Kung gusto mo padalhan kita next time na I’ll send a package home. By the way, your blog is really useful and sincere on food cooking. - Love it!
[...] 6. I dont like okra. So I am not keen on eating the ever famous “pinakbet“. [...]
I’m not the only filipino (okay part filipino) allergic to bagoong. Thanks for the idea about using anchovies!
Hi tukayo, I am connie too. My wife went to Philippines for vacation and she left our youngest daugther with me, she said she missed mom’s pinakbet but I don’t know how. So I search the net and found your site. I tried your recipes, add ampalaya cause my daugther likes it. it’s perfect we love it!!! gugulatin ko na lang si misis pagdating nya I will cook for her.
Thanks for your delicious recipe.
hello to everyone, i am new sa website na to, me and my family are vegetarians > i heard something about TVP (textured vegetable protein) o meat substitute kung tawagin ng iba> san ba ko makakabili nito sa metro manila and how much?
Marc,
chek out:
http://www.spicesandfoodmix.com or
email:Lulu_sfmh@yahoo.Com
gdluck!
I mean james…Hehe..Thnking of s0me1 kc wh0se nme is mark?..Haha!S0ry!
Mam c0ni,i’m s0rry!..so rude of me to post & post,n0t even asking ur permissi0n.Na excite lng po msyado!..-So hapi i’ve f0und y0ur blog!..M0re p0wer!
Contemplating on what to cook for dinner, I googled for Pinoy recipes and luckily came across your website. This blog entry in particular caught my eye - the pinakbet looks so yummy!
I grew up in the Ilocos region where bagoong is the base of the majority of our dishes. My grandmother would have thought pinakbet without bagoong is blah. I, on the other hand, think it’s adventurous.
I give kudos to your willingness to defy culinary norms!
*since I don’t have all the ingredients to cook pinakbet at the moment, lemme browse through your recipes and find something to cook hehehe.