It’s almost a year since my husband had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Say what??? Peewee had his gall bladder surgically removed in December last year. The stomach pains were getting worse that one afternoon, I had to rush him to the emergency room. After laboratory tests and ultrasound, doctors found the infected gall bladder as the culprit and surgery was immediately scheduled.
Now that he lost his bile-storing organ, he has to change his diet. Bile is responsible for emulsifying (break down) fats, so oil-rich foods are to be avoided or to be taken at a minimum. Prior to the operation though, we have been eating less pork and chicken has become a staple ingredient in our weekly menu.
One of his favorite pre-surgery food was pork binagoongan. I found a way for him to still have his favorite viand with shrimp paste but with less or no fat at all. I substituted pork with chicken. For this recipe I used chicken breast fillet although thigh fillet is more flavorful.
You may have your own version of cooking this well-loved Filipino dish, feel free to use that just use chicken instead of pork 🙂
Here’s how I did it:
I cut my chicken into cubes. Placed in a pan with salt and water. When water evaporated, I toasted the chicken with a teaspoon of oil so it won’t stick to the pan and hen set it aside. (Sorry this photo is blurred)
Using the same pan, I sautéed my garlic, onions and tomatoes. When tomatoes are wilted, I added the shrimp paste, vinegar and brown sugar.
Let it simmer and add in the cooked chicken cubes. You can pair this dish with a mango salsa or grilled eggplant salad and steaming hot rice! Nom Nom!
