Dinuguan


Dinuguan is a Filipino savory stew usually of pork offal and/or meat simmered in a rich, spicy dark gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili, and vinegar.

Etymology and names

The most popular term dinuguan and other regional naming variants come from their respective word for "blood". Possible English translations include pork blood stew or blood pudding stew.
Dinuguan is also called sinugaok in Batangas, zinagan in Ibanag, twik in Itawis, tid-tad in Kapampangan, dinardaraan in Ilocano, dugo-dugo in Cebuano, rugodugo in Waray, sampayna or champayna in Northern Mindanao and tinumis in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. Another name for dinuguan is "chocolate meat".

Description

This dish is rather similar to European-style blood sausage, or British and Irish black pudding in a saucy stew form. It is perhaps closer in appearance and preparation to the Polish soup Czernina or an even more ancient Spartan dish known as melas zomos whose primary ingredients were pork, vinegar and blood.
Dinuguan can also be served without using any offal, using only choice cuts of pork. In Batangas, this version is known as sinungaok. It can also be made from beef and chicken meat, the latter being known as dinuguang manok. Dinuguan is usually served with white rice or a Philippine rice cake called puto. The Northern Luzon versions of the dish namely the Ilocano dinardaraan and the Ibanag zinagan are often drier with toppings of deep-fried pork intestine cracklings. The Itawis of Cagayan also have a pork-based version that has larger meat chunks and more fat, which they call twik.
The most important ingredient of Dinuguan recipe is obviously the pig's blood. Pork blood is used in many other Asian cuisines either as coagulated blood acting as a meat extender or as a mixture for the broth itself. Pork Dinuguan is the latter.

Preparation

Serving Suggestions

List of other regional variations

Other regional variants of dinuguan include: