Filipino Chicken and Mung Beans (Balatung)

Once, out of sheer curiosity, I decided to try to find a recipe for this on the Internet. It was, I'm sad to say, an incredibly unfruitful search. The few recipes I saw were so far into left field as to bear no resemblance to the dish I grew up eating. I don't know if it's a sad butchery of a classic Filipino soul food, or just the dish as interpreted by another Filipino cooking style (highly possible, considering how many different islands and subcultures there are in the Phillippines).

Anyway, I found the situation saddening and decided I had to try and remedy it. Balatung is wonderful! Tender, slide-off-the-bone chicken, with mung beans cooked until they reach a gravy-like consistency that works perfectly with hot rice. The closest thing I can compare the flavor to is cream gravy, with a more exotic feel. Except, unlike regular cream gravy, this stuff is good for you.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces, or a combination of 8-10 legs and thighs. Do NOT use boneless or all-white-meat chicken! That's a sure-fire way to kill the flavor.
1 14-ounce package of dried split mung beans, peeled. You can find these in many grocery store nowadays. Can't find them peeled? No problem. Just buy them with the skins on, put them in a bowl of water, and scrub them between your hands. The skins will come off and sit on top, and you can pour them off with the water.
3 cans of chicken broth, or an equivalent amount of water or homemade chicken broth.
1 onion, chopped.
6 cloves of garlic, minced.
2 tblsp. vegetable or canola oil.
3 tblsp. fish sauce.
1/4 tsp. black pepper.
2 tsp. salt.

Start on the mung beans first. Rinse the mung beans well, and put them in a 6-8 quart pot. Add the chicken broth, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Turn the heat down to low, cover and let it simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Be sure to stir on occasion to prevent sticking. Add more water or broth, if needed, if the pot becomes to dry. As the beans cook, they will break down to a consistency that's similar to pea soup or cream gravy. Once it's tender, remove from heat and cover it to keep warm.

Once the beans are tender, you can start on the chicken. Heat a 6-8 quart pot over medium/high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are tender. Add the chicken, salt and pepper, and cook until it's nice and browned. At that point, the chicken has probably generated enough liquid to stew itself. If not, add enough chicken broth or water to make about 1" of liquid in the pot. Add the fish sauce, turn the heat down to medium/low, and cover the pot. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, for about an hour. You want the chicken to be tender enough that the meat comes off the bone easily. If you poke a piece with your stirring spoon and the meat slides off easily, it's ready.

Add the mung beans, and taste for seasonings. Simmer for another 5 minutes to combine the flavors. Serve hot over white rice.