Giniling, a.k.a. Picadillo

Filipino lesson: Giniling (ghee-nee-ling) - refers to anything that's ground; also applies to a dish made from ground meat

Philippine cuisine is very much like a Filipino himself: a result of a mixture of different cultures. There's the influence from the Chinese, Malay, Arab and Indonesian with whom the native Filipinos traded with during the pre-Hispanic era in our country. This economic exchange introduced to our people stuff such as noodles, cumin, soy sauce, fish sauce and others, to name a few.

The discovery of the Philippines in 1521 by a Portuguese explorer Fernando Magallanes (whose service was employed by King Philip of Spain, thus the name "Philip"-pines) marked the beginning of the Spanish occupation in our country lasting for more than 300 years. And it was during this period that our culture, and yes, including our palates, was transformed into what it is now: a fusion of the East and the West, an Asian-Hispanic blend.

This dish that I am sharing with you today is just one of the many East-West combination of flavors. "Giniling" is similar to the Hispanic/Latin American dish called “Picadillo” in that it calls for tomato paste, but different in that it has soy sauce in it too. I made it the way I remember my mother used to do it when I was growing up, but the wine and olives are a new twist, inspired by another blogger, Susan of stickygooeycreamychewy.blogspot.com. Thanks, Susan!

Giniling
1-1/2 lb ground beef (or pork), I used sirloin for lesser fat
3 tbsps olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 big cloves of garlic, minced
1-1/2 c potatoes, cubed (approx 1 large piece)
1/2 c red bell pepper
1/2 c carrots, diced
1/4 c pimiento stuffed olives
1 handful green peas, thawed
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 c white wine
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 bay leaves (3, if small)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsely, for garnish

1. Heat your oil in a deep skillet. When hot, sauté onions till translucent. Then add garlic.
2. Sauté for a minute and then add the meat. Cook meat till its done (when brown).
3. Add the potatoes and the carrots. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Be
careful with your salt since you’ll be adding soy sauce later on.
4. Cover the meat mixture and let it simmer for just 2-3 minutes.
5. Then add the wine. Let is simmer for another 3 minutes or until the wine has
reduced to half its amount.
6. Then add the vinegar and the next 9 ingredients (thru sugar).
7. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
8. When potatoes are done, adjust seasoning (add more according to your taste).
9. Add the red bell peppers and the peas just before turning off the heat.
10. Serve with steamed white rice, or yellow rice. Garnish with chopped
parsely/cilantro.

*Note: By all means add more of the liquids (wine, vinegar and soy sauce) in step #6 if you find the meat mixture dry/ or if you just want more sauce. You will need to adjust seasoning accordingly as well.