Inabraw* na Kabute at Bulaklak

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Inabraw/Inabrao is a recipe from the Ilocos region made of vegetables with native fish sauce in steaming broth.

Being a true-blooded Ilocano, my hubby loves this dish so much. Before we got married, I really tried so hard to perfect this recipe. Well, it's only after three years of marriage that I somehow learned to cook it in the taste he wants. Hehe...

Now, I have lots of versions of inabraw, combining different veggies available in the fridge. I have tried a combo of two or more of these: horse radish (malunggay) leaves and fruit, squash, eggplant, lady's finger (okra), string beans, bitter gourd, battle (upo), sponge gourd (patola), sweet pepper (siling haba), and a lot more. The choices are endless actually. You just have to experiment as to which ones match best.

This one is my most recently discovered version. The squash flower (bulaklak) came from a village vendor who walked by our house one morning. She said she picked the flowers herself from her own backyard, and are pesticide-free. The mushroom (kabute) I got from the supermarket. They said it's organically produced. If so, then I can consider this recipe healthy =)

Ingredients:
  • 4 pcs tomatoes, sliced
  • 2 pcs smoked fish (tinapa) or any fried fish, deboned and halved
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce (bagoong isda)
  • 1/4 c water
  • 1 bunch squash florets, anther/pistil removed
  • 200 g mushroom

Directions:
  1. Put the first four ingredients in a pot. Let it boil.
  2. Add the mushroom.
  3. After 3 minutes, add the squash flower.
  4. Remove from heat after a minute.
I served this recipe with fried milkfish (daing na bangus). I used the fish's head instead of smoked fish.

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