Ginataan usually includes yams, purple taro, plantains, yuca, rice balls and tapioca pearls cooked in coconut milk. (Kat Lucero)

Dish of the week: Ginataang bilo bilo (pronounced ghee-nah-tah-ahng bee-lo bee-lo)

Where: Danny’s Tindahan

A hearty dish perfect for these remaining chilly evenings of spring is a warm coconut milk stew that hails from the Philippines.

Contrary to a description usually reserved for savory items, it’s actually considered a popular dessert. The tiny tapioca pearls, larger gummy rice balls, pieces of a jackfruit’s sweet natural insides and, of course sugar, make this a sweet treat.

The thick chunks of plantains and root vegetables (usually sweet potatoes, purple taro and yuca) cooked with coconut milk, however, make this a stoutly fare. I have been known to unapologetically eat it for breakfast and dinner, such as an incident earlier this week. After all, one large, steamy bowl is packed with carbohydrates that’s enough to sustain an individual with a healthy appetite for several hours.

The dish has several regional and varietal aliases. For almost all of my life, I only knew it as benignit (pronounced bee-nig-knit), the name used in the archipelago’s middle islands called the Visayas. The popular Tagalog term swirling around the Internet to identify this particular stewy item is ginataan. Using this popular name, I inquired a friend from Luzon (the region that seats the country’s capital Manila) who cooks a mean array of Filipino food to see if she makes it. I even called a few Filipino establishments outside the District to see if they carried it. I amusingly came across the same responses from all of them: Which one? What do you mean? I later learned that ginataan can also be a general term used to describe any food cooked with coconut milk because it literally means “done with coconut milk.”

Danny’s Tindahan, 4115 Wisconsin Avenue NW, a small Filipino grocery store in Tenleytown, calls it ginataang bilo bilo because of the rice balls. The store sells it in refrigerated pint-sized containers, which can serve two to three people. The dish can also be eaten cold, but many people prefer it warm. So once heated it’s just as good as the comfort food made from home.

Small bites
Oyster-themed Earth Day celebration
Poste Moderne Brasserie, 555 8th Street, NW, later this month will have an oyster-themed celebration for Mother Earth and the opening of its outdoor courtyard. On Sunday, April 22, from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m., the event will benefit the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Tickets cost $75, which includes all the variety of oysters offered, lamb, beer from local breweries, wine, spirits and live bands.

Free meal for April babies
Restaurant Eve in Alexandria will offer free tasting room dinners for individuals born in April, reports Living Social’s DC city blog, SocialStudies. The deal is only available from Monday through Thursday, but call the restaurant at 703-706-0450 for more information.

Free food for a year
North Carolina-based Fuel Pizza will be grand-opening its second location in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, April 12 across the Verizon Center, 600 F Street. NW. The pizza joint will be offering free food for a year for the first 50 customers in line. If you’re not one of the lucky 50, you’ll still get a complimentary taste of the menu offerings throughout the celebration from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m