It was my second week in Manila when my favorite Uncle arrived with tons of Alimango (crab) and the biggest sugpo (tiger prawns) you can imagine. Mom knows that one thing I craved was her Ginataang Alimango and she indulged me this favorite recipe. I hate to admit I pigged out and ate four (yes, 4!) huge crabs, two of which were teeming with aligue (crab fat). I thought I’d suddenly find myself suffering from hypertension. Thankfully, I didn’t. But I was all crabbed out..LOL
I was actually seriously considering finding a way to plant some malunggay here in a pot. Then I can try to replicate it or have Mom cook me some with lobster instead of crab when she returns.
That’s as bicolana as I can get. One of those treats you can wait a year or two to indulge in again — definitely not for everyday pigging out. HAHAHA!
Pinay New Yorker 
wow. masarap na lason. if our bodies would permit us to eat stuff like that everyday, i will. mmm!
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i love eating alimango/alimasag sa gata with malunggay or sili leaves with rice, with sili and patis as sawsawan. yummy! i indulge myself eating once in a blue moon. like eating lechon. but who cares about calories and cholesterol when you’ll die anyway. but with eating pleasure of crab and its aligue. saraap.
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where in bicol are you originally from? didnt realize bicolanos(nas) used malungay. i thought only ilocanos were into malungay.
you can use a pot (large one) indoors to plant your malungay – it’s just that once it starts growing, you have to trim it often…..it grows quite fast. it can survive down to 30 degrees F outdoors. luego ~ emil
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Emil, my mom’s family hails from Bulan, Sorsogon. I will try and find a malungay plant to nurture at home. My basil plants are still healthy but not quite the right size yet to harvest and use. Thank you so much for the suggestion!
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