Bulanglang With Fried Tuna Steaks

Vegetable Stew with Fried Tuna Steaks

Bulanglang is stewed mixed vegetables, such as eggplants, okra, patola (sponge gourd) or upo (bottle gourd), squash, sigarilyas (winged beans), bataw (hyacinth bean), malunggay or any vegetables that are usually grown in the backyard and seasoned with fish sauce, or fish bagoong or anchovy sauce.
Fried fish, or for a much healthier dish, grilled fish, can be added to infuse more flavor and make it savory.
This dish is very healthy, and so easy and quick to cook. All you need to do is boil water and add all the vegetable ingredients according to their cooking time. Season with fish sauce and simmer until the vegetables are al dente to retain their colors and valuable nutrients. 
In this recipe, I used hugas bigas, or rice washing (water used to clean the rice), instead of regular water. I also added fried tuna steak for additional flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 large Patola / Sponge Gourd (peeled and sliced 3/4 inch thick diagonally)
• 1 medium Upo / Bottle Gourd (peeled and cut into serving pieces)
• 3 Eggplants (cleaned, cut in half horizontally and quartered vertically)
• 12-15 pcs. Okra (washed and cut diagonally)
• 2 pcs. Fresh Tuna Steaks (washed, seasoned with salt then fried until golden brown)
  
  
• 1 large Tomato (sliced in half, then quartered)
• 3-4 cups Rice Washing
• 1 small Onion (quartered)
• Fish Sauce or Fish Bagoong to taste

Let's Cook! 

1. In a large cooking pot, pour in rice washing, heat and let it boil.
2. Add tomatoes and onion and boil for 5 minutes.
   
3. Pour in fish sauce or fish bagoong.
4. Add the vegetables and simmer for 3-5 minutes.
5. Put-in fried tuna steaks simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
7. Remove from heat once the vegetables are tender and while the colors are still vibrant. 
8. Dish out with steamed rice.
9. Share and enjoy!