It is made with mung beans, garlic, tomatoes, onions, various vegetables, and patis (fish sauce).

The name is in reference to the first step of the cooking process where the spices and the secondary ingredients are sauteed before water and the mung beans are added.

[5] A variant of the dish includes coconut milk and is known as ginisang munggo sa gata.

It should not be confused with ginataang munggo which is a dessert gruel made from glutinous rice and mung beans.

In the vernacular its names include Alibabag, Ambabaay, Aplit, Babayan, Bulaloy, Bungon and Kama-a.