Laing using Silverbeet/Swiss Chard

I love Laing (Ginataang Dahon ng Gabi). Just a pity we can't grow Gabi in here. Too cold. We can't buy it that often in the chinese shop as well. FYI, we only have 2 chinese shops here, and they don't stock everything. So I make do with what is available and what I can grow in the garden. And that's Silverbeet. Silverbeet is like spinach, the bigger variety. I put it in soup, in ginisang Munggo and I also use it instead of spinach in spinach pie.

Here is my version of Laing using this versatile vegetable.

Ingredients:

Bunch of Silverbeet (as much as you like)
500 grams of pork, sliced (parang pang gisa)
2 tbsp of oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced finely
1 medium onion, sliced finely
2 cm ginger, sliced thinly or 1 tsp. crushed ginger from a jar
1 can of coconut cream
fish sauce to taste
chilli, as much or as little as you like


Directions:

Wash the Silver beet thoroughly. Separate stalks from leaves, then cut into 1 inch pieces. Set aside.
In a sauce pan, heat oil then sauté garlic, onion and ginger. Add pork and cook until tender. Add the desired amount of chilli or you can omit it altogether if you don’t like it spicy.
Season it with fish sauce. Add in the silver beet. Stir for a few minutes. Add the coconut cream. Simmer until oil comes out from the cream, stirring it once in a while. Serve with rice and maybe fried fish.

Notice I did not use bagoong in cooking it because my family does not like bagoong. But of course you can use bagoong if you so desire. I was able to introduce many and varied Filipino dishes to my family; it just a pity that bagoong is one food/condiment that they don’t like.