Tag Archives: pork

Before I moved to New York ten years ago, I always thought that Filipino cuisine was obscure and unknown, even if Filipinos were everywhere and have never been shy in replicating their home-cooked meals wherever they ended up in the world.

I am glad that the “authorities” have recognized the basic meat dish called adobo as something short of a little-known miracle in stew preparation, as I’ve discussed here. Of course I’m not satisfied with just enumerating the four ways I make adobo, I need to go into detail about at least one of them, perhaps the most tedious of all to prepare but is oh-so very worth the effort.

Crispy Pork Belly Adobo not only creates tender pieces of pork stewed in the mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and garlic, it is broiled in an oven for a few minutes for the skin to bubble and create that unmistakable crunch provided only by a dry and scorched pork skin, similar to another popular Filipino dish crispy pata but using belly instead of hock, but with the distinct flavor of adobo, bay leaves and garlic.

Here it is served with grilled eggplant and rice.

We begin with a few pieces of pork belly skin-side up in a pot, one part each of soy sauce, vinegar and water, plus a head of crushed garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns.

It’s always important to note that this dish works best with Filipino soy sauce, a dark blend of rich soy, as opposed to thinner and lighter sauces like Kikkoman and some other Chinese versions. Filipino soy sauce is available in most Asian markets.

The belly is simmered on low heat for about 90 minutes, covered.

This is how it is after thirty minutes.

Turn the pieces on one side for the next thirty minutes.

And on the other side for another thirty. Make sure to keep the heat to a low simmer and watch the meat for tenderness or else it will fall apart.

After the meat is tender, put the skin side up and keep the lid off to let the skin dry.

For best results, turn it off and leave it uncovered overnight or for a few hours so the skin dries and is easy to make crispy in the broiler.

Remove meat pieces from the pot and arrange skin side up in a baking dish.

Bake for 15 minutes at 375C to warm up the meat. Transfer to top rack and broil on low for five minutes, watching closely that the skin does not burn but just bubble into a crispy texture.

Remove dish promptly and serve with warm adobo sauce on the side.

Adobo goes well with rice and vegetable dishes such as grilled eggplant, steamed bokchoy, choy sum, and other greens. We like serving it with mung bean soup for our Filipino Cuisine 101 menu. Recipes to come. Enjoy!

Crispy Pork Belly Adobo

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds pork belly, cut into 2-3 inch square pieces
1 parts white, apple cider or cane vinegar

1 part water
1 part soy sauce (Silver Swan, or any other Filipino brand works, do NOT use Kikkoman or Japanese soy sauce)
5 bay leaves
1 head garlic, crushed and peeled
1 tsp black peppercorns

Simmer all ingredients in a covered pot with the belly meat side down for about 90 minutes, turning on each side until tender. Allow skin to dry by leaving the pot uncovered before arranging in a baking dish with the skin side up. Bake for fifteen minutes at 375C, then broil on low for 5 minutes, watching closely for burning. You only want the skin to harden and bubble to get that distinct crunch. Serve with a vegetable side and rice. Mangia!

Bistek Filipino Porkchops

Adobo Four Ways

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In his book How To Cook Everything, Mark Bittman calls chicken adobo “the best chicken dish in the world.” In his 2002 article on adobo, he says that he “doesn’t know of another dish where such a basic combination of ingredients and technique gives better results.”

Last year, Sam Sifton dedicated an entire NYT Magazine article to the mystery of the Filipino dish called adobo.

“There is great fun to be had in asking Filipinos how to make adobo, particularly when they are in groups…Husbands argue with wives about adobo. Friends shoot each other dirty looks…,” is exactly how he put it when dealing with the many ways Filipinos make this dish which Sifton called “pungent and rich, sweet and sour and salty at once.” That might really be the only way to describe it because adobo just…is. It’s like asking an American to describe a good burger without using the word “juicy.” It’s a burger, what do you want?

It’s adobo, what do you want? Except that the nature of Filipino cuisine necessitates several versions of it. There really must be 7,100 ways of cooking it, just like the number of islands in my country’s archipelago. I think we can all agree that vinegar is the base. I’ve never tried to omit soy sauce. Coconut milk? I guess we must broaden our horizons sooner or later.

Below are the four ways I’ve made it, and my time tested recipe at the very bottom. It’s pretty darn simple and tasty and being able to make it at home keeps me from ordering the dish elsewhere. (The first time I made adobo was in a cooking class at the Ajinomoto Test Kitchen in the Philippines as a ten-year-old. But that’s another story.) Don’t worry, there is no MSG in this dish. Enjoy!

Saucy…all the ones below start out like this. Always save the sauce to pour on top of your rice.

Adobo flakes.

After the chicken is cooked, the meat is pulled off the bone and placed in a hot pan to dry and get crispy. Flakes may be smaller and crispier than this photo but it has a tendency to make a whole lot of meat shrink into just a handful (of super yummy crispiness).

Crispy adobo pork belly.

Pork belly slabs may also be allowed to simmer in adobo sauce until tender and then placed in a roasting pan skin side up, then allowed to broil until the tops are crispy. Cut before serving.

Broiled chicken and pork pieces. (Photo by Kanako Shimura)

An oven is a great way to brown the chicken pieces as an alternative to the classic method of frying the pieces in oil before serving. The browned edges become crispy and tasty, turning the chicken and pork skin even more sinful than they already are. A few minutes under the broiler is usually enough. Make sure you watch it as it burns quickly and splatters oil.

Chicken or Pork Adobo

Pork butt, spare rib tips, or pork belly, cubed and/or chicken pieces
2 parts white vinegar

1 part water
1 part soy sauce (Silver Swan, or any other Filipino brand works, do NOT use Kikkoman or Japanese soy sauce)
5 bay leaves
1 head garlic, crushed and peeled
1 tsp black peppercorns

Crockpot: In a 4-quart or larger slow cooker, combine all ingredients and set on low for 4-6 hours. (Optional: At about 4 hours the meat should be perfect, you can drain the meat and fry in oil until brown and top with remaining sauce.) Serve with rice.

Conventional Stove: In a large pot, combine all ingredients If using chicken in addition to pork, add chicken 30 minutes later than pork. Simmer over medium heat until meat is tender (usually one hour). Drain and fry meat in oil until brown (or broil in oven), and top with remaining sauce. Serve with rice.

Pata Tim (Pork Knuckles Stew)

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Pata tim is a relative of the equally popular Filipino dish adobo but with added sugar.
The result is a fragrant meat dish that is rich in flavor for having so few ingredients.

Pata tim with crispy broiled skin and sauteed snap peas, brown rice.

Below is a simple recipe.

Begin with a bowl of pork knuckles and cut-up shoulder.

Silver Swan is the recommended soy sauce for adobo and pata tim because of its strength and color.

Silver Swan and Datu Puti cane vinegar can be found at good Asian markets. Heinz apple cider vinegar is a suitable substitute for the cane vinegar, but other soy sauces are not going to work.