Good Friday Lunch - Batangas Bulanglang (Mixed Vegetables Soup)

This vegetable dish is one of the standard fares we have during Good Friday when I was young. This is also one of my favorites as I so love squash no matter how you cook it. But I specially love this dish as it also includes lots of other vegetables and a perfect match for fried fish, pork or chicken. 

I think this is one of the first recipes I had learned to cook together with Pork Sinigang and Adobo. Simply because they are very easy to cook, and delicious too! I also remember that my mom  always used to tell us that we should always eat squash as it is good for the eyes. And of course, the rest of the vegetables simply because they are good for you! hehe!
As Bulanglang is native to Batangas, I understand other parts of the Philippines have their own versions too, like in the North, they have Dinengdeng and Pakbet. The difference is that in Batangas the vegetables are simply boiled until cooked crisp. It is usually an assortment of different local vegetables and is not very strict in terms of its ingredients, you can add or remove any one of the vegetables and it will still turn out to be Bulanglang. In Batangas though, the base vegetables would always be squash, green papaya (unripe) and string beans. You can add green leafy vegetables, usually malunggay, talbos ng kamote (sweet potato leaves) or bulaklak ng kalabasa (squash blossoms) whichever is available.
We were not so successful in our trip to Family Food Center so we had to drive to Lulu in order to find most of the vegetables needed for the dish. 


Ingredients,
400gms squash, peeled and wedged
1 small green papaya, peeled and sliced
10 pcs yard long beans, cut to about 2in long
15 pcs okra
1 large tomato
1 clove garlic, peeled
5 cups rice stock (second washing)
salt to taste


Method
Wash and prepare all vegetables.
In a casserole, crush the tomato unto the rice stock and add the clove of garlic. Cook to a boil until the tomato is thoroughly blended with the stock.
Add the squash and cook for about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the squash. Then add the papaya and beans and okra. Let boil for about another 10 minutes. Add any green leaves if using. Cook for another 2 minutes and turn of the heat. Cover. Let it cook in its own steam. 
Turn off the heat and transfer into a bowl. Serve with fried or grilled fish, pork or chicken. Enjoy!