I was first introduced to this Filipino pork stew with veggies by my girlfriend’s mom, who is always juggling multiple dishes in the kitchen. Linat-ang baboy is a dish commonly eaten in Cebu. It’s a pretty simple stew with pork base (I like pork belly or ribs), flavored with garlic and onion, and loaded up with vegetables and kabocha squash.
While sinigang na baboy is a more famous Filipino stew, this warm, hearty stew with rice is pretty easy to make and now one of my favorite comfort foods which I make quite often!
Some background
I found out from having meals with my girlfriend and her family that I ate soups and stews a bit differently than they do. I tend to go heavier on the broths in my bowl and even have spoonfuls without rice. However all the other Cebuanos at the table merely used the broth to soak the rice on their plate.
Ingredients and cooking tips
I found out that these kangkong leaves (on-choy) are not really supposed to be in this recipe, but more traditionally used in sinigang. I’m sure this soup has a hundred variations in Cebu, but I really like these leaves anyway so I still add it to the soup.
These leaves are found in many Asian and Chinese supermarkets. The chayote is found in many of these Asian markets too, but I was surprised to see it at an American megamart.
This kabocha squash is insanely difficult to cut when raw. It’s heavy and tough as a rock. You could jam your knife in it half way and swing it around with the squash on the end and it would not come off. See: how to cut kabocha squash.
You can maybe try wedging the knife in and tapping it with a wooden mallet. I just cut it by putting body weight into the knife and rock back and forth until the kabocha yields.
The only ingredient in this dish that needs to be stewed is the pork. We want to boil that and then simmer until it’s tender. This takes anywhere from 1.5 to over 2 hours depending on the cut you use and how tender you want it. I used cut pork ribs and stewed for about 1.5 hours.
If you want to season the pork, you can marinate it ahead of time. The rest of the ingredients are fully cooked in about 10-20 minutes in the pot so they are all added after the pork is done.
Serve your linat-ang baboy with a side of rice. Or on top of rice–however you like your stews!
Filipino Pork Stew with Mixed Vegetables (Linat-Ang Baboy) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork ribs
- 6 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped, 1.5-2" pieces
- 1/2 kabocha 1-1.5" cubes
- 1 chayote 1" cubes
- 2-3 cups kangkong leaves on-choy
- 2-3 cups string beans sitaw
- salt
Instructions
- Rinse meat under tap water, add to pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, dump water to remove impurities. Rinse meat again under cool water in the sink then drain.
- Add enough filtered water to just cover the meat, add about 1.5 tbsp. salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until tender, about 1.5 to 2 hours.
- You can optionally saute the onion + garlic for an extra layer of flavor. When the meat is soft enough to your liking (I like it almost fork-tender), add onion, garlic, chayote to the pot. Add enough water to cover and salt to taste. Simmer at a little higher heat to cook the onion and chayote about 60% of the way through.
- Add the string beans and kabocha and simmer until the kabocha is soft when pierced with a fork, but not so soft it falls apart. These will continue cooking after you remove the heat so cook it to about 90-95% doneness before turning off the heat.
- In the last 1 minute add kangkong leaves, then remove from heat and serve.
i find it helpful to heat up the kabocha squash (microwave or oven) for a bit to make it softer to chop. it does change the texture a bit though
Is the change pretty weird? I never thought of doing that (impatience?). It could be worth it for those who would otherwise not be able to cut it.
I hate cutting up kabocha/kalabasa because as you said, it’s hard as a rock. Every time I need it for a recipe I’m afraid I might end up cutting my fingers or whatnot.
I love your blog. I stumbled upon it while looking up info on Vietnamese coffee. Browsed a bit and hours later I’m still here. 🙂
It’s pretty difficult, but always worth the effort in the end. I had some roasted kabocha this weekend and I’m still craving some more.
Glad you like the posts–be sure to share ’em with your friends :). Thanks for stopping by!