Ginisang Upo with Pork is easy to make yet big on flavor. This vegetable side dish made with tender-crisp bottle gourd and pork belly strips is also nutritious, tasty, and budget-friendly! It’s delicious on its own or with steamed rice.
As you can see from the list of ingredients, this ginisang upo with pork is similar to the pancit upo I posted a few days ago, sans the rice noodles. Pancit and upo make a surprisingly delicious combination and I urge you to give the recipe a try.
But if you’d rather enjoy upo with steamed rice, I’m all for it! This upo guisado is not only a nutritious and delicious vegetable dish, but it’s also easy to make and budget-friendly, too.
As a bonus, bottle gourd is a low-calorie vegetable clocking in at just 14 calories per 100 grams!
How to choose upo
- Choose young bottle gourds that are firm to touch and have a smooth, light green skin free of bruises, spots, or yellow discolorations.
- If the squash is young, the seeds are tender and edible. If more mature, scoop out the seeds and spongy interior as the seeds are too hard for consumption and the spongy flesh can turn mushy during cooking.
Cooking tips
- Cut the pork and the bottle gourd squash into uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.
- The bottle gourd has a high water content so add liquid sparingly.
- Take the vegetable off the heat a tad firmer than you like as it will continue to cook and soften in the residual heat.
- Season generously with freshly-ground pepper. Bottle gourd has a pretty mild, delicate flavor and needs that little kick of spice to be extra delicious.
How to serve
- Serve this ginisang upo with pork for lunch or dinner with steamed rice and your choice of grilled meat or fried fish.
- Store leftovers in a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat to 165 F or in the microwave until completely heated through.
Want more ways to enjoy this vegetable? Check out these scrumptious ideas:
Ginising Upo with Shrimp
Tinolang Manok with Upo
Sotanghon at Upo Soup
Ginisang Upo at Sardinas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 pound pork belly, cut into thin strips
- 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 medium upo, peeled and cut into strips (about 4 cups)
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a wide pan or wok over medium heat, heat oil.
- Add onions and garlic and cook until softened.
- Add pork and cook, occasionally stirring, until lightly browned.
- Add tomatoes and cook, mashing with the back of the spoon until softened.
- Add water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender and liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.
- Increase heat to medium. Add upo and cook, uncovered, for about 3 to 5 minutes or until half done.
- Add oyster sauce and stir to distribute. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally for about 2 to 4 minutes or upo is tender yet crisp. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Len Tabladillo says
So delicious and Comforting.👍🏼
Fely says
Another yummy-healthy upo recipe!!!!
Sweet Melody says
This is delicious! I was craving this for so long and tried making it for the first time and found it so so easy. My partner also loved it and he’s not Filipino.. thank you
Lalaine Manalo says
You’re welcome 🙂
Ton says
– Simmer uncovered lest they overcook in their steam.
– Instructions: Lower heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender and liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.
I’m confused.. Which is it?
Sam says
This is frequent on my mother’s kitchen table. She made sure we’ve had our share of veggies when we were little, plus upo was very affordable.
Lalaine says
We had upo often, too, when we were growing up but surprisingly, I didn’t like it back then as much as I do now. 🙂
Lou says
I maybe mistaken but it looks like theres tomatoes in the dish.
Lalaine says
Oh my, yes, I forgot to list them on the recipe card. 🙁 Corrected now, thank you for letting me know!