This recipe is timely for people who are in the US, as it’s actually Autumn there, meaning there are lots of pumpkins! But let me just clarify that pumpkin is not kalabasa… kalabasa in english is Squash. Some of my followers in my Instagram account asked me, what is a kalabasa and what is the substitute they can use?

If you are not in the Philippines, you can use butternut squash as a substitute. Funny thing is, I used pumpkin for this recipe so technically my title is wrong. The inside of the butternut squash is visually the same as pumpkin. Pumpkins are watery, less creamy and less sweeter compared to the Philippines kalabasa, which is originally from the Tropical America. It is easy to assumed that our kalabasa came from Spain.

Ginataan or alternatively spelled as “guinataan” is a Filipino word which refers to food cooked with coconut milk.

I apologize that the pork in this dish is not seen in the photo. My bad!

Let’s start cooking Ginataang Pork with Kalabasa and Green Beans

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 kg. pork belly, chopped
½ small Butternut squash or kalabasa cubed (or in this case, pumpkin)
23 pieces long green beans Baguio beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 medium onion minced
4 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
2 tablespoons fish sauce
ground black pepper to taste
2 can coconut milk
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a cooking pot.

2. Sauté onion for 1 minute in medium heat, add garlic and continue to cook until the onion softens. Don’t burn the garlic.

3. Put chopped pork into the pot. Cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup water and simmer to boil, about 30 minutes or until the pork is cooked, brown and little bit fried. Add water if necessary.

4. Pour the coconut milk into the cooking pot.

5. Cover the pot. Continue to cook in medium heat for 45 minutes. Note: add more water if necessary.

6. Add butternut squash or kalabasa. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes.

7. Add green beans. Cover the pot and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes.

8. Season with ground black pepper and fish sauce

9. Share Ginataang Pork with Kalabasa and Green Beans with family and friends!

If you have tried this recipe, please tag #asliceofkate so I could feature you in my next post or story. Please kindly leave a feedback, it would be much appreciated. Thank you!