Pinakbet

Description:
Pinakbet is touted to be a very healthy dish, a medley of native vegetables rich in color and nutrients-eggplant, bittermelon, string beans, squash, and okra. Other versions utilize broiled fish such as tilapia or milkfish to pull the dish together.

From Truly Pinoy webpage.

This one of my favorite pinoy dishes. I enjoyed this dish a lot during our wedding reception at Harbor Lights Hotel in CDO. Now that I have the recipe. I'm gonna try to make it. :)

Ingredients:
1 eggplant, sliced into 2 in thick strips
1 bitter melon, seeded and sliced into 2-inch thick strips
15-20 pcs string beans, sliced into 4-inch lengths
3 tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
7-10 ea okra, ends trimmed
1 medium-sized Japanese sweet potato, cut into cubes
2 tbsps bagoong (shrimp paste)
1 lb pork belly, sliced into strips
3-4 cups broth vegetable oil

Directions:
Prepare the vegetables.

In a pot, boil pork belly in around 5 cups of water until tender, adding more water as needed. Remove pork and slice into strips. Save broth.

In a skillet or wok, heat oil. Saute onions and garlic until tender. Add pork strips and saute until slightly brown. Add bagoong and continue to saute. Add tomatoes. Saute until tomatoes soften.

Pour in broth and allow to a gentle boil for around 3-4 minutes. Lower heat to simmer. Add sweet potato cubes and simmer until slightly tender. Add long beans, allow a minute interval then add in eggplant, bittermelon and okra.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, around 6-8 minutes. Serve hot with steamed rice.