Dinuguan is a Filipino dish made from pork entrails and blood, often in the form of a stew. It is flavored with garlic, onion, green peppers, lemongrass, and bay leaf. The dish has different versions in different regions and is often paired with a sweet white rice cake called “puto”. It has similarities to other European dishes made with blood and pork.
Dinuguan is a popular Filipino dish which is mostly made from pork entrails and blood. The word comes from the Filipino root “dugo,” which is translated as “blood.” The dish is often in the form of a stew, with pork blood as the main ingredient for the thickened gravy. Its color can vary from a muddy brown to a blackened soup, making it a deceptive dish that some people mistake for a dish of chocolate. This is why it has garnered the nickname “chocolate meat”.
It is said that during the pre-Hispanic and Hispanic times, local chiefs, landowners, and other influential people in society would butcher a pig during festivals and other important occasions. Being the leaders of the society, they would get the lion’s share of the roast pig, but leave the entrails and drained blood to the servants and workers. In turn, the servants used common kitchen ingredients like garlic, onion, and a little salt, to turn the innards into a stew.
Aside from the usual garlic and onion, dinuguan is also cooked with green peppers, both for fragrance and for that added spice. Some versions would have the green peppers whole, others cut into large chunks. Lemongrass, or “tanglad” in Filipino, is also a common flavoring, likely to cut out some of the taste and smell of the innards. Bay leaf can also be added for extra fragrance.
An important thing to remember when cooking dinuguan is to prevent the blood from clotting once it is discharged from the pig. Many regions usually mix it with vinegar or even coconut milk. The liver can also be pureed to make the blood sauce thicker and richer. It’s also important to cook the dish for a long time to remove the taste and smell of the blood and, of course, to make it safe to eat.
Depending on different regions, the dish can be cooked in different versions. In the Tagalog region, dinuguan contains more soup, which is perfect for pouring over white rice. In the Ilocos region, the dish, also called “dinardaraan” from the word “dara” which also means “blood”, is usually made drier. In Batangas, their version of the dish may not even include innards, but instead use prime cuts for the meat. Dinuguan is also popularly paired with a sweet white rice cake called “puto”, a very nice contrast not only in colour, but also in taste.
Dinuguan may be a very unique dish in Filipino cuisine, but it also has similarities to other dishes in Europe. The “melas zomos” or black soup of the Spartans also used blood and pork as the main ingredients. Swedish “svartsoppa”, also translated as black soup, is also a similar dish that can also be made with goose blood.
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