Vegan Filipino Food: Vegan Pinangat

Vegan Food Extraordinaire RG Enriquez aka AstigVegan with this week’s offering.

Pinangat or Pangat is a Filipino fish stew I’d like to refer as “poor man’s food” because of its simplicity yet nourishing effects. Growing up near a beach and a fisherman’s market, my mom would always serve Pinangat for breakfast. Some Pinangat versions call for Calamansi or Filipino citrus, others call for coconut milk. I grew up eating the latter.

While some folks say they understand why I don’t eat meat, they don’t get why I’m also banning fish. I believe that fish are not seafood, they’re marine life. Creatures in the ocean have enough predators to keep a healthy ecosystem, let’s not mess it up. But when I do miss my Pinangat, what does a vegan Filipina got to do? Create her own authentic version! I say “authentic” because I believe Filipinos don’t eat meat for the sake of eating meat, we eat it because of its distinct texture, flavor, and fat. Actually that goes for all cuisines-as what I learned from vegan chef, Tal Ronnen.

So if I’m able to execute all those three: texture, flavor, and fat, then the recipe will be just as the same and authentic as what I grew up eating. Authentic as in it’ll bring you back “home”.  The problem with ready made alternative meat sometimes is that it has its own flavor. So while it tastes good, it doesn’t necessarily taste “authentic.” So for this Pinangat recipe, I opted to create my vegan “fish” from scratch.

My technique was inspired by another vegan Filipina, Nona Lema, who published a cookbook called “Gulay.” I don’t remember her exact steps but I remember her incorporating coconut shreds as the “fish flakes” and steaming it. Her recipe uses coconut milk and instead of wrapping it in seaweed, it calls for some kind of leaves like Banana leaves (the name escapes me).

So without further ado, here’s my take on Vegan Pinangat:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tbsp. Flax oil
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 long dried Wakame pieces
• 4 roma tomatoes, cut in 4 (big chunks)
• 1 vegetable buillon (or if using vegetable broth, use 2 cups vegetable broth & 2 cups water)
• 4 cups water (2 cups if using vegetable broth)
• 1 pack extra firm tofu
• 1 pack Nori seaweed wrap
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 3 tbsp. Calamansi juice (or in my case, I found frozen Calamansi extract at a local Asian grocery store.)
• sea salt
• Pot Steamer

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add the water and vegetable buillon/broth to a medium pot steamer.
2. Simmer for about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes, wakame, and oil.
3. Wait until it’s boiling, pour the calamansi juice, mix, then add the steamer on top.
4. Steam the vegan fish to infuse the flavors of the broth (see below for the recipe)
5. Steam for about 10 minutes each side.
6. Combine the wrap and broth when ready to serve.

The wrap wouldn’t break apart for awhile but it would disintegrate if left in the broth let’s say for more than four hours. It’s best to combine only when it’s ready to serve.