Champorado (chocolate rice porridge/pudding) is a well-loved treat in the Philippines. It makes a hearty breakfast or snack. At NVC, we make champorado more nutritious by using chocolate Mingo. The moringa and mung beans add vitamins, minerals and protein to the dish. We often served Mingo champorado when we made the rounds with our food shuttle. The dish was a house specialty and a crowd favorite around the island of Negros.

A friend of NVC based in Metro Manila heard about Mingo and wanted to bring the treat over. She asked us if we would share our recipe with the Kusina ni Maria (Maria’s Kitchen) team of San Ildefonso Parish in Makati City. Of course we happily obliged! The recipe was shared and our friend bought chocolate Mingo in bulk and donated it to the feeding program.

Fr. Ric Lorenzo Fernando, SDB and the rest of the Kusina ni Maria team cooked up a batch of Mingo champorado and distributed it to parishioners. The concoction was an instant hit! People eagerly lined up for it and scraped their bowls clean.

Inspired by the positive feedback, the Kusina ni Maria team took things a step further. They ordered some Mingo ube (purple yam) from us and experimented with it. Their experiment was a success and they recently began dishing out Mingo ube champorado as well. And lo and behold, it’s proving to be even more popular than the classic version!

Thank you to our dear friend for putting us in touch with Kusina ni Maria. And thank you to Fr. Ric and his team for their hard work, not to mention, their new recipe!