Ginataang Hipon

Ginataang Hipon with sitaw and kalabasa is a Filipino shrimp dish, where shrimp, straw and kalabasa are cooked in coconut milk, with other usual ingredients of ginataang hippon. Loaded with vitamins A from the squash, iodine from the shrimps and calcium, potassium, zinc and magnesium from the malunggay leaves, a big bowl of this savoury dish can give you your vitamins and minerals requirement for the day.

Ginataang Hipon Recipe

Ingredients:

• ½ kilo large shrimps
• 600mL coconut milk
• 1 cup squash (sliced)
• 1 cup string beans (sliced into shorter pieces)
• 1 cup malunggay leaves
• ½ cup okra (sliced)
• 3 pieces green chilies
• 2 pieces red chilies (optional)
• 1 thumb ginger (sliced)
• 1 small red onion (minced)
• 3 tablespoons shrimp paste
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the shrimps. Devein each of hem using a fork or a bamboo stick. Remove their antenna and legs carefully by using kitchen scissors. Wash them once again and then set aside.
2. Grab a pot and pour out the coconut cream. Then, add the ginger and onions. Stir the mixture a little and allow it to simmer for a few minutes using medium heat setting. Stir this from time to time to prevent the coconut milk from burning.
3. Once the coconut cream has thickened a little, add the whole green chilies, sliced green chilies and squash. Let it simmer again to allow the squash to soften.
4. Once the squash are fork tender, add the shrimps, okra and string beans. Let them cook until the coconut sauce starts to boil. Stir them gently from time to time.
5. Add the sauteed shrimp paste on the sauce and stir well to incorporate the taste. You can use fish sauce instead if you don’t like shrimp paste.
6. Add the malunggay leaves and stir well until all the contents are fully-cooked. Do the final taste test and sprinkle some ground pepper and stir well.
7. Do not overcook the veggies especially the shrimps. Once you achieved the desired thickened sauce, the dish is ready!
8. Transfer the ginataang shrimp and squash to a serving plate. Enjoy this on top of a big bowl of hot steaming rice. Yum!

Ginataang Hipon with Sitaw and Kalabasa

While other kids’ first job was removing white hairs from their lolos and lolas, I had a different way of obtaining some coins when I was a kid. Once your mother or your inay tasked you to gather some malunggay leaves from the giant malunggay tree at the backyard, you should already accept your fate that you will be spending the next few minutes of your life plucking each of the malunggay leaf from the stems. While most kids see this as boring and laborious, I see this task as interesting and challenging, and of course rewarding. Seeing this part of the preparation as time-consuming, I usually budol my lola to buy me a small bottle of soda after I plucked out all the malunggay leaves. Then, I compile all the leaf-less stems, trying to form it to a bouquet and then give it to my inay. Inay will then give me extra 5 pesos for me to buy tigpipisong chips from the sari-sari store. If all grandmothers give soda and chips for plucking out malunggay leaves, I bet every child will be volunteering to do it!

But as an adult, I now pass this task to my lovely niece who is always nagdadabog everytime I only reward her with a bottle of soda. (Kids these days have high standards already!) As the official chef of the house, I always made sure that every malunggay plucked is worth every bite of the dish I am creating.

Ginataang hipon with kalabasa is one of the top requested dishes when a bunch of fresh shrimp has been laid on the kitchen. If you wanna know how to make this dish, read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!

How to Cook Ginataang Hipon with Sitaw and Kalabasa

Preparing some ginataang hipon ang kalabasa is super easy and straightforward once all your ingredients are already prepared. While most of them needs minimal preparation, except for the shrimps and malunggay leaves. But since the time is evolving, you either pass this task to the bunso in your house or use a strainer. I saw this hack on tiktok where you gently insert the malunggay stem (from the back) to one of the holes of the strainer and then gently pull. Voila! All leaves are plucked in a blink of an eye!

After preparing the malunggay leaves. Prepare the other ingredients. Carefully cut the pricky antenna of each shrimp. This can stab the mouth when not removed. Cutting the shrimps legs are actually optional but will make it more enjoyable to eat for later when removed. For the squash, simply cut them into perfect chunks. Aside from our main ingredients, I usually add other veggies like string beans and okra to make it more filling and nutritious.

Lets start the dish by adding savour to our creamy coconut milk. You can use fresh gata but I used the packed one for this dish for convenience. Add the aromatics and allow the flavors to scatter in the cream. Just remember to use low heat to prevent the coconut milk from burning.  As you cook, the cream will thicken. That’s your sign on adding the green and red chilies. The red ones are really spicy and is optional if you simply want a mellow dish. Add the squash and string beans first and allow them to soften before adding the shrimp as the shrimps cook easily and become chewy and dry when overcooked.

The main seasoning I use for this dish is the bagoong alamang. If you find this too strong, you can use fish sauce or simply salt to adjust the overall taste of the dish. Lastly, add the malunggay leaves. The leaves cook easily so you can turn the heat off.

Transfer the ginataang hipon and kalabasa into a big serving bowl. I usually enjoy this with some hot steaming rice. Alternatively, you can use this recipe as a guide if you want to make some seafood and veggie soup. You can chop up the ingredients a little smaller and then thin out the base to transform it into a creamy shrimp and squash soup. Yum!

Ginataang Hipon with Sitaw and Kalabasa Recipe in Tagalog

Mga Sangkap:

• ½ kilo malalaking hipon
• 600mL gata
• 1 tasang kalabasa (hiniwa)
• 1 tasang sitaw (hiniwa)
• 1 tasang dahon ng malunggay
• ½ tasang okra (hiniwa)
• 3 pirasong siling haba
• 2 pirasong siling labuyo (optional)
• 1 hiwang luya (hiniwa)
• 1 maliit na sibuyas (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 3 kutsarang bagoong alamang
• ½ kutsaritang durog na paminta

Paano Lutuin:

1. Hugasan at ihanda ang mga hipon. Alisin ang itim na veins ng mga ito   ang tinidor o toothpick. Gupitin din ang mga sungot at paa. Hugasan ulit ang mga ito at isantabi.
2. Ilabas ang kawali at ibuhos ang gata. Sunod na ilagay ang mga hiniwang luya at sibuyas. Haluin ito at pakuluan ng ilang minuto gamit ang katamtamang apoy. Haluin ito paminsan minsan para hindi masunog ang gata.
3. Kapag medyo lumapot na ang gata, sunod na ilagay ang siling haba, siling labuyo, at kalabasa. Hayaan ang mga ito maluto hanggang lumambot ang kalabasa.
4. Kapag malambot na ang mga kalabasa, saka naman ilagay ang mga hipon, okra at sitaw. Lutuin ang mga ito hanggang medyo kumulo na ang sabaw. Haluin paminsan minsan.                                                                                                                                                                                                          
5. Sunod na ilagay ang bagoong alamang at ihalo ito sa sabaw. Kung medyo di mo type ang bagoong alamang, pwedeng gumamit ng patis.
6. Ilagay ang mga dahon ng malunggay at haluin para maluto. Tikman ito at timplahan ng konting paminta. Haluin.
7. Iwasang ma-overcook ang mga gulay lalo na ang mga hipon. Kapag sakto na ang lapot ng sabaw, ready na ito!
8. Ilipat ang ginataang hipon at kalabasa sa serving plate. Ihain ito kasama ng malaking bowl ng mainit na kanin. Yum!