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Ginisang Munggo (Monggo)

Some dishes in a certain cuisine are known to best describe the feeling of home-cooked meals from that particular country. For the Philippines, it can range from sinigang to fried bangus to longganisa. But Ginisang Munggo is perhaps one of the best standout dishes that can definitely bring to you the comfort of a Filipino…

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By: Vanjo Merano 18 Comments Published: 7/25/21

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Some dishes in a certain cuisine are known to best describe the feeling of home-cooked meals from that particular country. For the Philippines, it can range from sinigang to fried bangus to longganisa. But Ginisang Munggo is perhaps one of the best standout dishes that can definitely bring to you the comfort of a Filipino home. Hearty, healthy, and made of affordable ingredients, this dish isn’t so often cooked and served by moms for nothing. 

Ginisang Munggo

It has a subtle, savory taste, and a satisfyingly tender texture. The mix of softened munggo or Mung beans with spinach, tomatoes, onions, and pork definitely make for a tasty and filling lunch meal.  And because it mainly banks on so many vegetables to fill the pan, it also has a ton of nutrients like folate and phosphorus. 

But if you’re looking for a vegetarian alternative, Ginisang Munggo without meat is also possible. Simply subtract your thinly sliced pork, shrimp and crushed pork rinds from the equation. You can expect an altogether delicious dish even without these meat additions. 

Now if you grew up with this dish, you might have noticed something about when this dish is served. I mean, why is Ginisang Munggo cooked on Fridays? Legend has it that this comes from the Lenten season tradition wherein Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays. This is also because Good Friday marks the day of Jesus’ death on the cross. And with Ginisang Munggo being such an established Filipino dish, it became the standard meal to serve on days wherein you can’t have meat. If you want to learn how to make this in your own kitchen, keep reading for the steps!

How to make Ginisang Munggo:

We will start by pouring 24 ounces of water in a pan, which we will boil. Once it starts boiling, you can place your 1 ½ cups of Mung beans inside. Let this simmer until the munggo gets soft. This should take about 35 to 50 minutes. But as you are waiting, you can also prepare the other ingredients you’ll be adding to the mix. 

To add some more flavor to our Ginisang Munggo, we will be using 1 tablespoon of garlic, and 1 medium-sized onion and 1 medium-sized tomato, both of which are chopped. Put this in a separate pan, and start sautéing these together. Then incorporate your ½ lb. of thinly sliced pork. Now let all of these ingredients cook up nicely for 5 minutes. 

Ginisang Munggo Recipe

Afterwards, we’ll be adding 1 beef cube and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce for some more savory flavor. You could also use 1 teaspoon of beef powder in the place of the beef cube if this is unavailable. Then we will be letting this simmer for 10 minutes or at least until your meat gets tender. You can also pour in more water to make sure the meat is soft, but make sure that you also simmer for longer. 

Now put your 5 to 8 pieces of medium-sized shrimp inside, which is also an optional ingredient. But this can add a mildly sweet and salty taste to your Ginisang Munggo, which can be very complementary to all our flavors! Now stir these all together, and cook the ingredients for 2 minutes. 

Adding the Mung beans to the mix:

Let’s grab our cooked munggo from earlier, and also add them to the pan. Start stirring again, and then let the pan simmer for 10 minutes. Then proceed to place your 2 cups of spinach and ½ cup of crushed pork rind or chicharon inside. And for our final touch to tie in all those ingredients together, we will be adding ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper. 

You now have a delicious plate of Ginisang Munggo fresh off the pan that’ll be perfect for a party of 6! But you can keep your chef’s hat on, and learn more delightfully nutritious Filipino recipes to serve!

Some yummy and healthy Filipino dishes you should try cooking:

Ginisang Sitaw

Quick, easy, and absolutely tasty, this Ginisang Sitaw is perfect for when you’re craving a delicious vegetable dish. Because it’s full of vitamins and minerals from our colorful set of ingredients, it’s also great for giving you enough energy for the day! Its taste is also something you can’t disregard. Made with heaps of tomatoes, garlic, onion, ground pork, and of course, string beans, it makes for an amazing meeting of salty flavors

Ginataang Monggo

Now if you’d like a sugary way to enjoy your Mung beans, I’d say the perfect recipe to turn to is Ginataang Munggo. Simple, sweet, and irresistible creamy, this uses up heaps of delicious coconut milk, sticky rice, sugar and munggo. And that’s where it ends! You only use four different ingredients for this recipe, but with its flavorful and delightful taste, you’d definitely guess there were more. 

What did you think of my Ginisang Munggo recipe? Don’t forget to comment any suggestions or questions below!

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag us on Instagram at @panlasangpinoy or hashtag #panlasangpinoy so we can see your creations!

Ginisang Munggo

Ginisang Munggo (Monggo)

Sauteed mung beans with spinach. This simple and healthy dish is perfect to have during rainy or cold weather. Serve it with rice and fried fish on side.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
0 minutes
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups Mung beans
  • 1 tbsp garlic
  • ½ lb pork thinly sliced
  • 2 cups spinach (or alugbati)
  • 1 piece tomato chopped
  • 1 piece onion chopped
  • 8 pieces shrimp optional
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 24 ounces water for boiling
  • 1 piece Knorr beef cube for flavoring
  • 1/2 cup crushed pork rind chicharon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

  • In a pan, put-in the water and bring to a boil
  • Put-in the Mung beans and simmer until becomes soft (about 35 to 50 minutes)
  • On a separate pan, sauté the garlic,onion, and tomato
  • Add the pork. Cook for 5 mins
  • Put-in the beef cube and fish sauce. Simmer for 10 mins or until the meat is tender. Note: If necessary, you may add water to help make the meat tender but make sure to add more time to simmer
  • Add the shrimp. Stir and then cook for 2 minutes.
  • Pour the cooked Mung beans. Stir and then simmer for 10 minutes
  • Add the spinach and pork rinds (chicharon)
  • Sprinkle the ground black pepper
  • Serve hot. Share and Enjoy!

Video

Nutrition Information

Serving: 6g Calories: 337kcal (17%) Carbohydrates: 41g (14%) Protein: 21g (42%) Fat: 11g (17%) Saturated Fat: 3g (15%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Monounsaturated Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 31mg (10%) Sodium: 726mg (30%) Potassium: 922mg (26%) Fiber: 10g (40%) Sugar: 5g (6%) Vitamin A: 1172IU (23%) Vitamin C: 10mg (12%) Calcium: 113mg (11%) Iron: 4mg (22%)
© copyright: Vanjo Merano

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Vanjo Merano

Vanjo Merano is the creator of PanlasangPinoy.com. His goal is to introduce Filipino Food and Filipino Cuisine to the rest of the world. This blog was the first step that he took.

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Recipe Rating




  1. Ron Malate says

    Posted on 11/18/17 at 2:08 am

    Bakit paps beef cube ginamit? Eh pork ang nilagay mo na sahog.

    Reply
    • Vanjo Merano says

      Posted on 11/18/17 at 11:16 am

      Good question. I can use either pork or beef cube for this recipe. It is really up to your preference.

      Reply
  2. Hailee Renomeron-Abdulmuin says

    Posted on 9/4/15 at 7:26 am

    Making it simple makes it more delicious. Thanks for this guide because I learned how to cooked because of this website!

    Reply
    • Vanjo Merano says

      Posted on 9/4/15 at 8:10 am

      It is our pleasure, Hailee. Thanks for your comment.

      Reply
  3. Roque Jay Broce says

    Posted on 4/22/14 at 8:52 pm

    I made mine just sauteed in olive oil, lots of garlic, red onions and lots of tomatoes. No MSG. No artificial flavorings as the tomatoes itself brings out the goodness. Salt (Kosher) may be added to the sauteeing process. Italian dried herbs like Basil or Oregano or Parsley may be added for an extra zing. To variate and make this extra healthy, chopped leafy vegetables (I have tried malunggay and bokchoy and it’s perfect!) may be added. Cubed squash may also be added. I caution on adding coconut milk…it will taste good but the caloric count is just too high.

    Reply
    • WellHelloThere says

      Posted on 5/12/15 at 11:57 pm

      Thanks Banjo, for this recipe! Thank you also, Roque for your input. I was wondering how to do away with the artificial flavoring when I saw your comment. Did you use any fish sauce?

      Reply
  4. Janine says

    Posted on 4/22/14 at 8:35 pm

    Thank you for this recipe. My mom cooks it every Friday I don’t know why. She substitutes pork with pork cracklings (chicharon) and soak the mung beans overnight so that it will be easier to crush because we like it thick.

    Reply
  5. Melanie says

    Posted on 11/2/13 at 9:59 pm

    Panlasang Pinoy, I’ve learned so much recipes from you u r really a big help to us i love ur website. Keep it up!

    Reply
  6. Mary says

    Posted on 4/23/12 at 1:14 pm

    I just want to say thank you because of your website I learned how to cook delicious home-made recipes.

    Reply
  7. carol says

    Posted on 7/26/11 at 11:52 am

    could i use pepper leave in place of spinach? just wondering. thanks Vanjo, this is an awesome site for non-cooks like me. way to go! (:

    Reply
  8. Michelle says

    Posted on 7/20/11 at 5:58 pm

    Thank you so much for this recipe! This is my favorite Filipino dish and I’m so glad you’re here to save me when I want my Filipino cravings fixed! 🙂 this turned out so delicious!

    Reply
  9. Ja says

    Posted on 4/22/11 at 8:08 am

    I always put shrimp paste and tofu too.. Delish!! Thanks for posting recipes, I was surprised one time I saw my white husband watching your videos and he made adobo! Haha

    Reply
  10. snoopy says

    Posted on 1/10/11 at 9:45 pm

    Wow this recipe is awsome! I love cooking filipino food for my husband. Being russian married to a filipino, i had to learn to cook what he likes and this website is the best!!!. thank you soo much for all the wonderful recipes!

    Reply
  11. Rachel says

    Posted on 1/5/11 at 2:00 am

    i make mine with ginger-garlic paste so picky eaters don’t remove chunks of ginger or garlic. try it.

    Reply
  12. Pear56 says

    Posted on 10/20/10 at 8:01 am

    My mom boils the chopped pork till its own oil comes out and that is what she uses to saute the garlic, onion and tomato. She also uses shrimp cubes instead of beef. I tried using palabok instant mix since palabok gravy is also shrimp based and that got me hooked. And for me tinapa is a must ingredient. BTW, we always soak the mung beans overnight so it can release its thing which causes gas.

    Reply
  13. Sel says

    Posted on 6/28/10 at 1:56 am

    Hi! Thanks for this site!! Love the recipes, though haven’t tried them all. I hope you can put how many servings the recipes make.. Thanks!!

    Reply
  14. Rose says

    Posted on 5/4/10 at 5:19 am

    thanks for sharing…yummy :)…god bless 😉

    Reply
  15. Panlasang Pinoy says

    Posted on 10/30/09 at 4:38 pm

    Not a problem kathy. Glad you liked it.

    Reply

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As a huge fan of Filipino food, it is my goal to teach people how to cook it using the simplest way possible. Prepare your taste buds for an ultimate showdown of delectable Filipino dishes! Read more…

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