Recipe: Pinakbet

The real, or to quote Laguna's buko pie producers, d'original pinakbet is not a saute aromatics then fish paste then vegetables procedure, which is the typical pakbet sold in Manila canteens. The root of the word is pakbet, or wilt, which is what the vegetables should look like when cooked. Make sure that farm-fresh vegetables are used for a sweet pinakbet that even ampalaya's bitterness is tempered. Otherwise, its taste can be as harsh as the Ilocos sand dunes.