Binagoongan Baboy

Binagoongan Baboy is the perfect weeknight dinner; it cooks in one pan and in an hour! Made of pork belly stewed in fresh tomatoes, shrimp paste, and chili peppers, this classic Filipino pork dish is hearty, boldly flavored, and best enjoyed with steamed rice.

I cooked binagoongan baboy today so that I could reshoot the photos as well as update the recipe with cooking tips. I first published this post in 2013, during my first year of blogging, and it definitely needed revamping.

Since I hadn't had this classic Filipino stew for a while, I was very excited to enjoy it for lunch and made sure I had my rice going in the rice cooker while the meat was simmering on the stove. I couldn't wait to dig in and rush through the photography as quickly as possible!

After a couple of shots, I went straight to the rice cooker to serve myself a generous heap, and there was my raw rice, still raw and swimming in water. I forgot to push the COOK lever! Ugh.

Waiting a second time for the rice to cook while the pungent aroma of pork binagoongan wafted from the kitchen was the most torturous 20 minutes of my life! And then, of course, G comes up to me and suggests, "you can eat it with bread. " I looked at him, and I'm like, Uhm, bae, what part of Filipinos AND rice don't you understand?

Ingredients/Substitutions

• Pork belly- I prefer this fatty cut in binagoongan as its thick cap of skin cooks to melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and renders fat into the sauce for incredible flavor. If you like leaner meat, pork shoulder is a good option. I've also used boneless, skinless chicken with delicious results!
• Shrimp paste- make sure to saute and brown it well to tame the fishy taste. Better yet, use already ginisang bagoong instead of raw. I included instructions in the recipe notes on how to use either.
• Vinegar- helps balance the strong flavors of the dish. Once added to the pot, give it a few minutes to boil, uncovered and without stirring, to cook off the acidity.
• Sugar- along with the vinegar, it helps round off flavors
• Onions, garlic, tomatoes- the trinity of Filipino ginisa dishes
• Chili peppers- scrape off the seeds and veins before chopping, or omit the peppers altogether if you don't care for the spice.

How to serve

Pork binagoongan is traditionally served as a main dish for lunch or dinner with steamed rice and fried eggplant on the side to complete the meal. You can also try it with pickled mangoes to add a refreshing flavor.

Storing leftovers

Store leftovers in a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.

Reheat in a saucepan over medium-low heat to 165 F or in the microwave at 2 to 3-minute intervals until fully heated.

More Binagoongan Recipes:

• Crispy pork binagoongan- made extra special with crispy pork, steamed eggplant, and mango-tomato salad topping. Sooo yummy!
• Binagoongan Fried Rice- toss your leftover pork stew with day-old steamed rice
• Binagoongan Baboy sa Gata- take this recipe into a whole new level of yum with coconut milk!
• Binagoongan Talong- eggplants go from side dish to center stage in this version