Filipino Pork Belly Adobo
I’ve been dying to get together with my blogger friend Bianca to cook some Filipino food for years, and the stars finally aligned to make this happen a few weeks ago. She recently quit her job so she could finish up her degree and we realized that we both have Wednesday afternoons completely free. Check out her blog today for more on this same recipe, and again later this week for some other stuff that we cooked that day. Hopefully we can do this again a few more times before her semester is over so I can taste more of this delicious cuisine I have never been exposed to before!
The pork chunks ready to go into the pot.
No heat yet. Just put these into the pot with crushed garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, vinegar, and soy sauce. You let this simmer for an hour to an hour and a half.
Strain out the pork and sear it really well. Then pop it back into the strained liquid.
After it simmers awhile longer the sauce has thickened and the pork is super tender.
We also made some tasty spring rolls called lumpia that Bianca will post later this week. They were loaded with veggies like bean sprouts, sweet potato, green beans, and tofu. We even baked these so that they would be a little healthier and offset the fatty pork belly.
Honestly though, it doesn’t matter to me how fatty these things are because the taste of this dish is amazing.
I really hope to get together with Bianca again soon and try out some other Filipino recipes!
Filipino Pork Belly Adobo
Ingredients
- 3 Pounds Pork Belly
- 1.5 Cups Vinegar
- 1/2 Cups Soy Sauce
- 10 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns
- 10 Bay Leaves
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- Vegetable Oil
- Rice
Instructions
- Cut up the pork into thick 2 inch slabs. Put them into a pot with everything except the oil. Strong simmer(almost full boil) about an hour and a half. Remove the pork. Strain the sauce and return it to the pot. In a heavy frying pan or cast iron skillet, sear the pork on both sides in the oil to brown really well. Put it back into the pot with the sauce and simmer lightly another hour or so to thicken and further tenderize. Serve the pork over rice with the sauce.
Have tried your pork belly adobo. It’s pretty good. But I’m a creature of habit and just cook it the way my mom who was from Kalibo, Aklan in the Philippines.
Cut up chicken (ok to include pork). Remove grease.
Brown the chicken. Set aside
Brown the couple pieces of garlic mashed or minced.
1 cup Filipino vinegar (hate that white distilled vinegar)
1 cup light soy sauce.
1/2 cup water to 1 cup water for sauce.
Couple bay leaves.
Put it in the all in the pot and cook for 1 hour. Check and see if the chicken is cooked and remove. Reduce the sauce so that it’s thicker. That’s it.
I’m Filipina and this is how I make mine. Similar premise as above, but I like to use chicken thighs in addition to pork shoulder and pork belly. I also zest 1-2 limes into the marinade and let that soak for an hour or two (more than that and the skin gets too soggy on the chicken). Throw in a little bit of dark soy sauce in with the other soy sauce. I always use apple cider vinegar. Aaaaand if I’m feeling excited, I’ll toss in a can or two of coconut milk (the dish is then alled adobado). I also reduce the sauce a LOT, especially when I’ve thrown in coconut milk. Sooooo delicious.