When you want to try Filipino food, there are many delicious traditional dishes to choose from. One of these dishes is dinardaraan, and its interesting and unique flavor profile will take your taste buds on an extraordinary journey. Here’s everything you need to know about this dish and what to expect when you try it.

A Guide to Dinardaraan

Ingredients

This dish begins with a quality, fatty meat, and it traditionally consists of pork and sometimes its innards. It’s sautéed with aromatic onions, garlic, and bay leaves, and vinegar is added when the meat has browned and the onions have caramelized. The dish is then turned down to a simmer, and the gravy reduces to a small amount.

After the sauce has mostly simmered off, water, high-quality pig blood, and a spicy green pepper are added. This is cooked until it forms a thick sauce that’s bursting with flavor, and it’s seasoned with sugar and salt.

Finished Product

What you end up with is a rich, filling stew that’s loaded with meat and light on sauce. Due to the garlic, onion, sugar, and salt, it’s reminiscent of a spicy barbecue sauce. With a mild texture, the flavor offers a pleasant mix of heat and sweetness, and it's deepened and complemented by the meaty flavors. The fats and oils from the pork meat and blood offset these flavors for a balanced and enticing finish with incredible depth. Due to its variant flavors, dinardaraan can be served as a main dish or as a side.

Pairings

Although this is a stew, it packs a lot of flavor in a small amount, so it’s best served with foods that will temper its potency. Pair it with other traditional Filipino foods, such as pinakbet, pancit, or fluffy pandesal. For your beverage, the deep, meaty, and spicy flavors of dinardaraan pair perfectly with an ice-cold, light beer, which will cut through the oils and spices to refresh your palate.

If you’re searching for authentic Filipino food, like dinardaraan, from a local restaurant in Maui, then head to Plantation Grindz in Kahului, HI. They’re open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and offer tasty Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Filipino food. Their menu consists of cheeseburgers, mochiko chicken, and shrimp tempura, as well as local favorites like hamburger steak and kalbi. View their catering and plate lunch menus online, or call (808) 873-3663 to ask about their rotating specials. To stay connected, follow them on Twitter and Facebook and leave a review on Google.