Go Back

Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew)

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
In this recipe, the more exotic organ meats are omitted. The stew is cooked with pork belly, cheeks and liver to make dinuguan virgins less squeamish.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Filipino
Servings 4 people
Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) in Serving Bowl
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 500 grams pork belly cut into one-inch cubes
  • 500 grams pork cheeks cut into one-inch cubes
  • ⅓ cup vinegar
  • 1 whole head garlic peeled and minced
  • 2 thumb-sized knobs ginger peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 shallots (or one onion), peeled and roughly chopped
  • 5 to 6 finger chilies
  • fish sauce (or salt) to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • 2 to 4 cups fresh pork blood
  • ¼ kilogram pork liver thinly sliced

Instructions
 

  • Heat the cooking oil in a pan.
  • Add the pork belly and cheeks, and cook over high heat, stirring often, until the meat is no longer pink.
  • Pour in the vinegar. Stir.
    Rendering pork fat in wok
  • Cook, uncovered, until the vinegar has been absorbed by the pork, and the pork has started to render fat.
  • Cook the pork in the mixture of cooking oil and rendered fat for a few minutes.
  • Add the garlic, shallots (or onion), ginger and chilies.
    Adding garlic, ginger, and other spices to pork in wok
  • Season with fish sauce (or salt) and pepper. Stir.
  • Cook until the vegetables soften.
  • Pour in the blood (see notes after the recipe). Stir. Bring to the boil (the blood will turn from red to brown as it cooks).
    Pouring in fresh pork blood into wok with pork and spices
  • Lower the heat, cover and simmer for an hour or until the pork is done.
  • The sauce will reduce and thicken as it cooks, don’t be tempted to add water unless you want a soupy dinuguan.
    Cooking dinuguan in wok
  • Taste the stew from time to time and adjust the seasonings, as needed.
  • When the pork is tender, add the liver. Stir. Simmer for another ten minutes.
    Adding pork liver to dinuguan
  • Garnish the dinuguan with slices of chili and scallions before serving.
  • Serve as a main dish with rice, or as a snack with sweet rice cakes.

Notes

Note that if there are solid masses in the blood, you can press them through a strainer before adding to the pork. I don’t mind the solid masses although I mash them with my hands to make sure that there are no too large pieces.
Updated from a recipe originally published in September 15, 2012
Keyword Pork, Pork Belly, Pork Liver, Stew