Ginisang Okra is a simple yet flavorful Filipino dish with okra sautéed with garlic, onions, and tomatoes. This nutritious and delicious meal can be easily prepared in under 30 minutes, making it perfect for a quick and satisfying meal.
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Ingredients you'll need
Notes and substitutions
- Okra: A green vegetable with a slightly fuzzy exterior, soft seeds inside, and a mucilaginous texture when cooked. It has a unique texture and flavor, great for sautéing as it holds its shape and absorbs flavors well.
- Ground pork: Feel free to use another cut of pork or other proteins, like beef, shrimp, chicken, tofu, or smoked fish.
How to make this recipe
Step 1: Brown the pork
Set a wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add a tablespoon of oil (if your pork is fatty, skip the oil). Brown the ground meat, breaking it up into fine crumbles. Season with salt, then push it to one side of the pan.
Step 2: Sauté aromatics
Sauté the onion and garlic until softened. Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down and caramelize, adding more oil as needed.
For a bit of heat, you can also include sliced chilies to taste. Then, toss everything together.
Step 3: Add okra and seasonings
Add the okra to the pan. In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water to create the sauce.
Pour the mixture over the okra and stir. Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes until the okra is tender, adding more water as needed.
Step 4: Taste and adjust
Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Add ground pepper to your liking, then turn off the heat. Serve and enjoy your Ginisang Okra with steamed white rice!
Recipe FAQs
Ginisang Okra is a Filipino dish with okra sautéed with garlic, onions, and tomatoes. It's often cooked with pork or shrimp, then seasoned with fish sauce or shrimp paste.
Okra has a mild, slightly grassy flavor with a hint of sweetness. Raw okra is crisp and fibrous, while cooking transforms it into a soft, mucilaginous consistency.
Explore more Filipino recipes with okra
- Pinakbet: A vegetable stew with okra, eggplant, squash, yardlong beans, and bitter melon, cooked with fermented shrimp paste.
- Ginisang Okra with Bagoong: Sautéed okra with fermented shrimp paste of bagoong alamang.
- Adobong Okra: Okra cooked adobo-style with vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper.
- Ginataang Okra: A creamy dish where okra is cooked in coconut milk, often with shrimp or fish.
- Sinigang: A sour and savory soup with pork, shrimp, or fish cooked with a souring agent like tamarind or calamansi.
Other vegetable recipes you may like
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📖 Recipe
Ginisang Okra
Equipment
- Wok or Sauté pan
Ingredients
- 12 ounces okra ends trimmed and sliced diagonally into bite-sized pieces; see note
- 8 ounces ground pork see note
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 ripe tomatoes chopped
- 2 chili peppers sliced (adjust to taste)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoons oyster sauce sub: fish sauce or shrimp paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar more to taste
- 2 tablespoons water more as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Neutral oil
Instructions
- Set a wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat, then add a tablespoon of oil (if your pork is fatty, skip the oil). Brown the ground meat, breaking it up into fine crumbles. Season with salt, then push it to one side of the pan.
- Sauté the onion and garlic until softened.
- Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down and caramelize, adding more oil as needed. For a bit of heat, you can also include sliced chilies to taste. Then, toss everything together.
- Add the okra to the pan. In a separate bowl, mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water to create the sauce. Pour the mixture over the okra and stir.
- Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes until the okra is tender, adding more water as needed.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Add ground pepper to your liking, then turn off the heat.
Notes
- Okra: A green vegetable with a slightly fuzzy exterior, soft seeds inside, and a mucilaginous texture when cooked. It has a unique texture and flavor, great for sautéing as it holds its shape and absorbs flavors well.
- Ground pork: Feel free to use another cut of pork or other proteins, like beef, shrimp, chicken, tofu, or smoked fish.
Robb
Should okra be crisp or limp after cooking? This looks so good, btw.
Nora Reyes
Hi Robb, The okra usually ends up tender and a bit limp, not crisp. If you like it somewhat crisp, just cook it for less time. It’s really up to your taste how soft or firm you want it. Thanks!