Monggo with Hibi (Mung beans with small dried shrimp)

I cooked this Monggo with Hibi last night for dinner since it was a Friday because we were trying to abstain from eating meat. It was also a coincidence because some Filipino households prepare this dish mostly on a Friday, for some reason.

There is nothing special about monggo with hibi, but I still found it interesting. I cannot imagine how small pieces of dried shrimp can bring more than enough flavor to the entire dish. It was tasty and delicious.

I always remember my time in Manila when I see hibi. When I was a kid, my mom will always ask me to buy a small sachet of hibi from the nearby sari-sari store because she will use it to either cook monggo or ginisang gulay such as upo or sayote. The dried shrimp are packed in a tiny sealed bag that were stapled in a long cardboard and hung within the store. I think that it is the same package used for dried sweet and spicy squid. It was not so long ago, so some of you might still recall.

This recipe is straightforward. Unlike with what I did with ginisang monggo, the mung beans were not soaked in water this time. These were boiled until tender and then sautéed with the rest of the ingredients. It was a perfect Friday night dish. I wish that I had some crispy fried small galunggong to go with it.

Try this Monggo with Hibi recipe. Let me know what you think.

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Monggo with Hibi (Mung beans with small dried shrimp)

This is a recipe for Monggo with Hibi which are Mung beans with small dried shrimp

Course Vegetable

Cuisine Filipino

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 5

Author Vanjo Merano

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked mung beans
• 2 to 2 ½ tablespoons hibi small dried shrimp
• 1 bunch fresh spinach
• 3 tablespoons patis fish sauce
• 5 ½ cups water
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 5 cloves garlic crushed
• 3 medium ripe tomatoes cubed
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

• Boil 4 cups of water in a cooking pot. Add the mung beans and continue to boil until the beans absorb all the water. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a separate pot. Sauté garlic, onion, and tomato until soft.
• Add the hibi and mung beans. Stir.
• Pour-in remaining water into the pot. Let boil. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the spinach. Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add the fish sauce and ground black pepper. Stir and cook for 2 minutes more.
• Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve.
• Share and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 5g