The Southern Tagalog island province of Marinduque has a dish called Kari-Kari, but if you think it’s the province’s version of the ever popular Kare-Kare, It’s more like a version of Dinuguan than Kare-Kare, as its main ingredients are pig’s innards (heart, spleen, kidneys and small intestines) and blood, and it is cooked with garlic, onion and siling pansigang.
In a recent trip to Marinduque, which is the home province of my husband Raff, his nephew Glenn Deligero demonstrated how to prepare Kari-Kari the traditional Marinduqueño way. Glenn is an agricultural technologist, Provincial Veterinary Office, and assigned as Officer-in-Charge of the Marinduque Animal Breeding Station, in Barangay Napo,Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. He’s a great cook, and Kari-Kari happens to be one of his specialties.
Kari-Kari
1 pc. pig’s heart
1 pc. pig’s spleen
1 pc. pig’s kidney
1 pc. pig’s small intestine
salt to taste
2 Tbsps. vegetable oil
6-7 cloves garlic, chopped
freshly cracked black pepper
2 pcs. big onions, chopped
2 tsps. soy sauce
1 tsp. liquid seasoning
dash of monosodium glutamate
1 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsps. vinegar
bird’s eye chili
1 cup fresh pig’s blood
Directions:
1. Wash pig’s heart, spleen, kidney and small intestine in salt and water. Rub, then wash off with running water. Repeat one more time. Drain.
2. Put the innards in a casserole with 1 tsp. salt and water to cover. Boil until tender.
3. Drain off boiled innards. Let cool. Rub with salt, wash off, drain and chop.
4. Heat pan. Add vegetable oil. Add garlic and season with freshly cracked black pepper.
5. Add onion.
6. Add chopped innards.
7. Season with soy sauce, liquid seasoning, monosodium glutamate, sugar and vinegar.
8. Cover and simmer until almost dry, about 10 minutes.
9. Add bird’s eye chili.
10. Add 1 cup pig’s blood by straining it in.
• For more recipes and food adventures, check out the author’s blog, Flavors of Life. Text by Dolly Dy-Zulueta | Photos by Rafael R. Zulueta | Lifestyle Section, InterAksyon.com