Gising-Gising: Spicy Green Beans in Coconut Milk
Dan
Spicy Filipino vegetables | Coconut milk | Green beans
Gising-gising is creamy, spicy, salty, and full of snap, with green beans, pork, bagoong, and coconut milk made for a big scoop of rice.
Why make it: This version uses easy green beans instead of harder-to-find wing beans, with heat levels you can tune for the table.
Fresh From the Kitchen
What Is Gising-Gising?
Gising-gising is a Filipino vegetable dish often made with chopped beans, coconut milk, ground pork, chiles, and bagoong. The name means wake up, a nod to its heat.
Why You Will Love It
- Practical for U.S. kitchens: the recipe uses ingredients and substitutions a home cook can realistically shop for.
- Built for the table: the serving notes match how the dish usually lands in Filipino-American homes, from weeknights to merienda to parties.
- Flexible without erasing the dish: swaps are named clearly so the original idea stays visible.
- Easy to cook through: the shopping list, timings, and storage notes make the recipe straightforward to test and adjust.
Ingredient Notes
For the beans
Green beans are easy and keep a nice snap. Slice them small so they catch the coconut sauce.
For heat
Long green chiles bring aroma and mild heat; Thai chiles bring the wake-up call.
Gising-Gising Recipe
This version uses easy green beans instead of harder-to-find wing beans, with heat levels you can tune for the table.
Shopping List
- green beans
- ground pork
- coconut milk
- coconut cream
- bagoong
- onion
- garlic
- ginger
- long green chiles
- Thai chiles
- rice
Ingredients
Pork and Aromatics
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons bagoong
Beans and Coconut
- 1 pound green beans, finely sliced
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 2 long green chiles, sliced
- 1 to 3 Thai chiles, minced
For Serving
- Steamed rice
- Calamansi wedges, optional
- Extra chiles, optional
Instructions
- Brown the ground pork in oil until lightly crisp in spots.
- Add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until fragrant.
- Stir in bagoong and let it cook into the pork.
- Add green beans and toss until glossy.
- Pour in coconut milk and simmer until the beans are tender-crisp.
- Add coconut cream and chiles and simmer until the sauce thickens.
- Taste and adjust with more bagoong or chiles before serving.
Tips For The Best Gising-Gising
- Slice beans small: Small pieces make the dish spoonable over rice.
- Keep some crunch: Do not cook the beans until dull and soft.
- Simmer coconut gently: A hard boil can make the sauce separate.
- Control the chiles: Add Thai chiles in stages if your table has mixed heat tolerance.
How To Serve And Store
Serve hot with rice as a main vegetable dish or beside fried fish. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Common Questions
Can I make it without pork?
Yes. Use mushrooms, tofu crumbles, or more beans.
Can I use wing beans?
Yes. Slice them thinly and cook the same way.
Is bagoong required?
It gives the signature salty depth, but you can use fish sauce in a pinch.
Can I make it mild?
Use only long green chiles and skip Thai chiles.
How spicy should gising-gising be before it earns the name? Share your family version or testing notes in the comments.
Recipe inspiration and technique reference: Filipino home-cooking source research from Panlasang Pinoy, Kawaling Pinoy, and Filipino-American cooking sources in the site roadmap.
