I drink blood, but I ain’t a vampire…yet.

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It’s 4AM and I am still wide awake. That’s my body clock these past few days: wide awake at night and asleep in the mornings. I’ve made it a commitment to join The Husband in the constant changes of work schedule to ensure that we both enjoy peaceful, restful sleep together in our wee studio flat, where the tiniest noise is the doom of the lightest of sleepers like The Husband dearest. And so here I am wide awake and still very full after a bloody meal. Literally a bloody meal.

No, I did not transform into a bat that flew off in the cool desert sky and bit into the juicy neck of a fair maiden, or rather a fine gent (since I am a woman BTW). I just enjoyed a bowlful of dinuguan, otherwise known as pork blood stew. Did I just see you cringe? Truth be told, it was only recently that I learned to enjoy this bloody Filipino treat.

Like most of you out there, who most probably screamed when you saw the word “blood” together with “stew”, I was grossed out too. An ink-black soup isn’t exactly the most appetizing looking dish in the world. Aside from it’s repulsive appearance, dinuguan can be ruined by non-experienced cooks by giving it a malansa odor (I can’t seem to pin down an Emglish translation, but it is a funky musty odor associated with not-so-fresh seafood and unsanitary cooked innards).

But when cooked right, this bloody stew can make you forget your name, mister. You don’t get to taste the blood. I just get a wonderful rich, gritty, sweet and pungent sauce (We, Filipinos, love our vinegar, remember?) and a good balance of lean and fat pork bits in every spoonful. It is best eaten with a puto (steamed rice cake) or two, which will sop up all the bloody goodness. But then if you don’t have puto, a cup of plain rice will do.

See?

I drink blood (stew), but I ain’t a vampire…yet. If the dinuguan loving me was a vampire, then all other dinuguan loving Filipinos (and non-Filipinos…any of you out there?) would be vampires too. Wouldn’t that be just awesome? A country full of vampires? Hehehe!

Delirious about delicious,

Didi

P.S. Maybe ALL Twilight fans should be required to eat dinuguan. Mwahahahaha!

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