THE main ingredient alone is already a giveaway to those who are not allowed to eat of it because of their religion, or simply do not like the thought of sharing the comfort food of Count Dracula. But there we have it—in as many forms as possible (chunky, soupy, thick and pasty) and in as many varied degrees of flavor as one likes it (very sour, not so sour, beefy, meaty, umami, nutty, like-liver), but always black as night: Dinuguan.

It is a dish we hate to love. Dinuguan is a soup/stew of animal blood curdled in vinegar and slow-cooked with diced tenderized meats or innards. The only other visual that is not black is a whole finger chili garnishing the top. In truth, the dish is really fit as comfort food. The thick curdle is über-umami in taste, and with the bits of meats that add to the meatiness, it is indeed a candidate for comfort food. Usually, it is served with fresh steamed puto (or rice muffins) as a counterpoint to the slight sourness. They really go together—ebony and ivory in perfect harmony!

Shades of blood

WE may regard dinuguan as a singular recipe: blood, vinegar, innards, garlic, green chili. But it is not as simple as that. There are oodles of recipes, to each his own good one. In my Lola Asiang’s recipe (that’s served in Aristocrat Restaurant), I remember tins of beef blood being delivered every morning. Once I was assigned to mash the clotted beef blood. It was cold and thick to feel, but smooth, even satiny as well. Yes, the Reyes version is all beef blood; no wonder it is thick and heavy and very black. As scary as it looks to those who hate the sight, it is heavenly in taste!

Other versions use pure pork blood and pork meat which results in a thinner stew but nevertheless is as delicious, tasty, meaty . This is what they call Tid-Tad, the Pampango version. I never knew there would be more extreme versions of dinuguan till I went to Ilocos and dug into their black-as-night stew. It is very thick, cooked to almost dry and no longer runny that is becomes neither a stew nor a soup but an ulam. To top it off, the dinuguan is literally topped with crushed chicharon fat and skin, mind you (no mercy!). Try to beat that—I call it double jeopardy but Ilocanos call it dinardaraan. Bet you didn’t know that there is a restaurant in Ilocos Norte that serves Dinuguan Pizza?

In Nueva Ecija, the dinuguan is known as “Cerkely” and it uses beef blood. This version is as heavy as their adobo which is composed of beef and pork liver, cooked almost dry but made tasty because of the strong vinegar. Other regions would have chicken blood usually called Tinumis. Some versions of dinuguan are cooked with coconut milk, like that in Bicol, which makes it really savory due to the added layer of flavor.

The best versions I learned from Nora Daza’s cookbook Galing Galing Philippine Cuisine (2004 reprint, National Book Store) and Edith Singian of Cook magazine. Combining beef blood with pork blood is the best technique for a good dinuguan because the umami and meatiness of beef blood will be lightened by pork blood resulting in a pleasant stew.

Bloody adobo

Technically, it would be right to say that dinuguan is a form of adobo because it is cooked with an acid and it has garlic, salt and pepper. Some add in laurel as well. Voila! It’s a bloody adobo!

Here are a few tips I learned in cooking the right dinuguan.

·         Combine beef blood with pork blood for a smoother blend.

·         Mash out the clotted blood with bare hands and sieve it through.

·         Knot several leaves of pandan and add to the blood when it boils. This will give a pleasing fragrance to the stew.

·         Cook slowly on low fire and stir continuously to prevent curdling.

·         For the meats, tenderize meats or innards separately and collect the broth. For innards, throw out the first boil which is usually grassy or earthy in odor...we don’t want that!

·         Nowadays, restaurants serve meats, not the innards. Pork meat from the head and cheeks or beef flank are good choices. Pork fat cut into small pieces is a good addition to pork dinuguan.

·         Be sure the meat broth has cooled down before combining it with blood.

·         Pour blood-broth blend through a strainer while stirring. If beef blood clots, just chop into small pieces and then add to the stew.

·         Do not stir while vinegar is still a’ boiling!

Pakiusap: If you meet up with tourists, please do not scare them out of their wits with dinuguan. Let them taste it—they might be surprised it tastes good and enjoy it. And take heart: we are not the only country that cooks blood. European countries have blood sausage. Can you imagine if they called them Bloody Hotdogs? Happy Halloween!