Giniling, like many other Filipino dishes, is not the prettiest in presentation.  If done correctly, however, it has the perfect salty and slightly sweet flavor.   Giniling is one of the first dishes I ever learned how to cook.  My kuya (eldest brother) learned the recipe from our mom, and he passed it down to me.  At one point, it was my favorite dish to prepare for dinner.  It only takes about 30-40 minutes to make, and all it really is is chopping, incorporating, and stirring.  I even used to pretend I was hosting an episode of 30-Minute Meals whenever I’d make it.  My boyfriend was feeling sick last week, so I packed up some warm giniling, and it ended up being the perfect picnic meal pick-me-up.

I would say one of the most important ingredients in giniling is the chorizo.  You can find chorizo de bilbao at any Asian grocery.  It’s usually sold in packs of two.  Only one link is needed for this recipe, so if you don’t find use for the chorizo right away (though it’s not hard to find good recipes that use chorizo), store and freeze the other link.

Ingredients:

olive oil
1-2 russet potatoes, rinsed + skin on
1 medium onion
1 lb ground beef
salt and pepper, to taste
1 chorizo de bilbao, small diced
1 red pepper, medium diced
1 cup frozen peas and carrots (can also use fresh peas and carrots, diced)
patis (fish sauce), to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In an oven safe dish, add potatoes, a little olive oil (about 1-2 tbsp), salt, and pepper. Roast until crispy – about 25-35 mins.

 In a medium sized sauce pan, heat some olive oil over a medium-high heat and saute onion for 1-2 minutes.  Before onions change color, add ground beef.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir occasionally until meat is a dull brown color.  Add diced chorizo.  

You can see the orange oils and fats from the chorizo seep out into the meat.

When fats from chorizo come out, red pepper, peas, and carrots.  When the veggies are soft (about 15 mins), add the fried potatoes.  Stir and season with patis (about 2 tsp. or to taste) and more pepper, if desired.

As far as its presentation goes, I’m not going to try to make the dish look fancy because it’s not.   The title picture above shows the best way to eat giniling: over or mixed with rice.  Always underestimate the amount of rice you will need because you’re going to want more giniling flavor than rice.  Some pinoys enjoy giniling with a little ketchup or even sliced bananas. Personally, I have been enjoying it with a little sriracha or hot sauce.