A Gift of Upo/Hyotan turns into Sari Sari

My friend at work has a green thumb. I mean a really, really green thumb. I am regularly gifted with fresh produce from his backyard including oranges, eggplant, and green beans. On this day, I got grapefruit, jabon, and a hyotan/upo. I segment the grapefruit and jabon for my daughter and me to enjoy as a cold, healthy snack. I usually make a kimchi/hyotan soup when I get this beautiful squash.

I wanted to do something different this time so I looked up some recipes and decided to try and make sari sari, a Filipino stewed dish.

We have tomatoes and wing beans growing in my backyard that I could add to the stew. I had some shrimp in the freezer that I’m trying to clear out for Thanksgiving. I just had to buy some eggplant, bittermelon, and crispy roast pork.

Since I knew that I would be busy in the afternoon with cheering on my daughter at a soccer game, I started the process early so that dinner would be ready when I got home after the game.

Ingredients

1 large onion, cut into wedges
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 chunk ginger, peeled
3 T patis
2 T white vinegar
2 T tomato paste
salt & pepper to taste
1 large box chicken broth
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 hyotan, peeled/seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 long Japanese eggplants, cut into 2-inch pieces
4-5 wing beans in bite-size chunks
2-3 bittermelon, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound crispy roast pork, cut in 1-inch chunks

Directions:
In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in oil. Add in tomatoes, patis, vinegar, tomato paste, broth, and ginger. Stir well to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Add hyotan/upo and simmer for a few minutes. Add bittermelon, eggplant, and shrimp and simmer a little more. Finally, add the roast pork and gently stir until heated through. Adjust flavor by adding salt or patis.

I sauteed the onion and garlic and started simmering the tomatoes with broth and patis mixture while getting the kids ready for school. That way, when I got home after work, I just need to put in the veggies, shrimp, and pork.And all I have to do when getting home from soccer is heat it up.