Guinataang Hipon at Kalabasa (Shrimps and Squash in Coconut Cream Sauce)

I guess you have seen variations of these in my site as this Squash and String beans in Coconut Cream sauce is a popular base for different types of meat in the Philippines specially seafood such as Shrimps and Crabs.  Also if you have noticed most of the Philippine dishes originated on different bases like Sinigang, Adobo and Afritada to name some, and from these base different meats is used to create a different dish.  This now shows how Filipino dishes are flexible in terms of ingredients used as we can swap different meats as well as the vegetables from the base dish; I guess it’s made that way because of how seasonal the vegetables can be.  Making it in that way you can still enjoy the same meal even you don’t have the original ingredients.

So for this dish we will be using the Squash and String Beans in Coconut Cream Sauce base and use shrimps instead, on my past posts we used the same base but used crabs and pork instead.  If you like creamy dishes and you love seafood then this should be a must try.  And don’t forget you need to use your hands when you eat this dish, thats why the shrimps shell is still in tact, and if you dont know how to use then here is a good guide to let you know.

Ingredients

400g Shrimps
1/2 medium sized butternut, cubed
1 bunch string beans, sliced into 2 inch pcs
2 cups coconut milk
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
3 pcs finger chillies, chopped
fish sauce
pepper
oil

Method

1. In a wok, heat up oil and sauté garlic, onion and chillies.
2. Add butternut and string beans and stir fry until there is a little bit of browning on the butternut.
3. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add shrimps and flavour with fish sauce.  Simmer for additional 2 minutes.
5. Season with freshly ground black pepper.