Halaan (clams) and malunggay soup
The more common way of preparing this simple soup is to add sili leaves to the clams after the heat has been turned off. The pot is covered for a few minutes to allow the sili leaves to wilt before serving. But after I gave birth to my first child, my father would make this soup using malunggay leaves. Whether there is a scientific basis for it or it is simply another old wives’ tale, I am not sure, but my father said malunggay helped with the production of breast milk. He wanted the best for his granddaughter. 
Malunggay (Moringa oleifera Lamk,) is a tree; both the leaves and the fruits are edible and highly nutritious and has been referred to as nature’s medicine cabinet and a miracle vegetable. The best part is… oh, okay, there are two. First, malunggay is very cheap. PhP 5.00 worth of malunggay is quite enough to cook a soup for four people. Second, malunggay leaves taste good. No bitterness, no hard fibers, no aftertaste.
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My lola said the same thing about ginger infused soups increasing milk production. And she said clear broths like this one are the best. Baliktad naman dito, malunggay leaves are such a novelty, one we can only get them frozen, and two, they cost an arm and a leg!
Hala, dito pwede nga manghingi sa kapit-bahay hehehe
Have you ever cooked or tasted something made from the malunggay fruit? W have a tree here pero puro dahon lang ang ginagamit (as hinihingi). Yung fruit natutuyo.
hi.this has got to be my favorite food, next to guinomis. it’s a goot thing that buying malunggay leaves has become unnecessary for me since my mom-in-law planted malunggay, sili, and tanglad (lemongrass) in our backyard. jmom’s woe is even more novel for me, expensive malunggay?oh no.
my father loves malungay leaves and its fruit very much, especially when cooked in diningding way.
I missed this dish!! I remembered my aunt prepared this back home and I loved it.
kulasa, not yet. my friend was just talking about a dish using the malunggay fruit last sunday. intrigued nga ako eh.
lemon, i wanted to plant malunggay too. our next door neighbor has a tree. but friends say the leaves often go into the “alulod”.
neri, ah, so the fruit can be cooked as diningding… thanks for the info.
ludwig, hehehe time to learn to cook it.
yes it can be cooked that way, just peel off the hard skin (outer area, dark green in color) then slice mo lang sya parang sitaw.
i just bought a box of frozen NZ mussels, pwede rin ba tong lutuin the same way as the halaan? wala kasing fresh dito sa isteyts kaya puro frozen lahat pati malunggay:o(
Kaso lang, I’m not sure where to find malunggay around here. One of the ingredients is the problem. Ill have to improvise with what is available so it won’t be the same.
hi connie! tagal ko nawala na naman…
that’s exactly how my mom cooks halaan soup. yun naman bunga ng malunggay. oo nakatikim na ko nyan. nilalagay ni mom sa bulanglang. oo nga ano! i think i forgot to mention malunggay dahon at bunga in my bulanglang post….
neri, am going to the market in the morning, i’ll look for some. intrigued ako.
pwede, olive. don’t forget the ginger.
ludwig, naku, can’t think of any substitute for malunggay ah.
o, iska, bulanglang naman… i really need to find the fruit of malunggay hehehehe
hi! may dish with malunggay fruit na super favourite namin! my mom cooks it with pork and tomatoes. its so yummy.
Connie and Kulasa, check ninyo ang blog ni Mike, he has a post on mallungay fruit. Sarap in dinengdeng and in his case, pinakbet.
hi connie, suggest ko lang to others na nahihirapan humanap ng mga pang-rekadong gulay, you can use spinach leaves instead. i do that when some of these veggies are not available in some pinoy stores. thanks!
Wow! I miss my mom’s home cooking.
How I miss malunggay! I picked up about 4 frozen bags a few months ago. I tried, I really tried to keep it longer than 2 months but I love and missed it so much I could not wait to use all bags. Looks like I need to make another trip to Birmingham real soon.
misty, any idea what’s it’s called?
Thanks, JMom. Haayyyy… I need to bloghop, really. Missing a lot.
Thanks, Olive, I’m sure Pinoys abroad will find your suggestion very useful.
Mario, in my case, my Father’s cooking. My mother can’t cook. LOL
Dot, special trip for malunggay? Grabe, the things we take for granted here in the Philippines.
My variation of this is I use tomato sauteed until it’s almost like a “sauce”. I put spring onions if no other leafy green is available.
hi!
i’m currently breastfeeding and i can attest to the effectivity of malunggay. there is also a malunggay tablet to increase breastmilk production.
bbrrrpppppp… excuse me
Thanks for the suggestions Oliver. However, it won’t be the same with malunggay though. Well, at least it is worth a try to alleviate homesickness.
Hi Sassy
Bulanglang ang dinengdeng are almost the same, dinengdeng in the Ilocano and int he Tagalog region they call it Bulanglang. Love this dish, especially if served with grilled milkfish or if none, whatever fried fish… sarap! sarap! lalo na with squash flowers!
Ah I see, you they’re regional names for the same dish. Thanks for the info, Jo.
before I asked you about malunggay recipe, now it’s here! Thanks a bunch… I cooked this recipe yesterday and It’s one of the best filipino dish…
only one thing I don’t like from halaan is there’s still a lot of sand inside the shell, so maybe If I’ll cook this recipe again, I’ll steam the halaan first and wash with clean water until no more sand and then I’ll mix it to the soup
hehehe
Thanks!
i’ve done a research today but i’m not satisfied with the result.
this is my continuation of my comments, i’ve made a research about process in getting oil in malunggay then the result is the recipe. HOW DARE YOU I’m in despair dont you know that!
sarah, and so?
i want to try recipe using malunggay for my pre-mature baby…..
THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME FOR MY PROJECT!!!
I hope our cooking contest will successful
Cooking contest??
THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME FOR MY PROJECT!!
do you have other malunggay recipes????
Please send me recipes on malunggay!!! Or any affordable soup dishes. Because my wife and I love soup!!! Thanks!!!!
Yah yah yah.. have you ever taste malunggay that look like a fish
i believed about the benifits you can get from malonggay. i was skinny when i was pregnant (my friends called me butiking buntis). my aunts and mu lolo always prepared something with malonggay on it (isda, clams, even tahong). it was 3 months before i gave birth, yung gatas ko (breast milk) tulo na ng tulo. sa awa ng Dios i saved money from buying milk and i have a very healthy and smart baby.
Hi Miss Connie
I have here a can of whole baby clams, do you think I can substitute it with the real thing? I also have bottled clam juice.
Thanks
Lisa
I’ve never cooked with canned clams, sorry.