Pork Belly Adobo Sandwich
Tender pork belly on a roll with garlicky sweet bok choy, a perfect combination of flavors that make this adobo pork belly sandwich unique and amazing! If you have never had Filipino Adobo, get some asap! Then after you become hooked with the authentic version, make this sandwich
The inspiration for this sandwich
I was craving a BLT the other day butย as usual I wanted to totally twist it up.ย My mind went straight to pork belly instead of bacon, and I quickly thought of this classic Filipino adobo preparation my friend Bianca and I cooked together a few years ago. For the lettuce part of the “BLT” I made some honey and ginger bok choy, and at that point I had such a good pork belly sandwich that I didn’t even need to find a tomato replacement.
Start the pork belly adobo
Pork belly adobo starts with putting a bunch of stuff in a pot.ย No need for searing meat or sauteing onions. Easy stuff! It also uses way more bay leaves than any other recipe I have ever seen, so it’s a great way to clean out those old herbs! Or an excuse to buy new fresh ones like I did. Pop this into the oven at 225 for about 2 or 3 hours. The sauce is just cane vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, pepper, and bay leaves. To get an authentic Filipino flavor, you want to try and grab this brand if possible for the vinegar and soy sauce.
Cook the bok choy
Some chili oil in the pan first, then garlic and ginger, and then the bok choy.
Next add vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili flakes, sesame seeds, and honey! There is also some shaoshing wine in this picture, but I ended up not using it in the final recipe so don’t look at that photo. Nothing to see here!
Let this cook low for about 15 minutes and it will be a perfectly bitter, sweet, and spicy topping for these pork belly adobo sandwiches!
Sear the pork belly adobo
You know the pork is done in the oven when a fork goes in with minimal resistance. I like to then cool the pork in the fridge overnight but you can skip that step if you want! I think it makes them more stable and less likely to fall apart during the searing phase. Either way, seperate the pork and the sauce and sear the pork on high on all 4 sides. Then add the sauce back in to reduce and add more flavor.
Make the banana mayo
Get the mayo into a small bowl and add banana sauce, hot sauce, and mustard. Stir to combine. That’s it!
Build the pork belly adobo sandwiches
Lightly toast the bread on all sides and then cut it. Sauce on first, then cheese, then pork, then bok choy. And of course, drizzle in more of the pork cooking liquids.
Serve the pork belly adobo sandwich
I like to wrap up a sandwich in parchment paper to really seal everything in there. It makes it feel more like it is from a restaurant. The pork belly adobo sandwich especially is great to wrap up because it tightens the bok choy and makes everything easier to eat!
This sandwich isย KILLER. ย If a food truck was slangin’ these for lunch it would be the talk of the town. A perfect balance of sweet, spicy, bitter, and tart flavors, while also being chewy, tender, and crispy! Literally everything you could ask for in a sandwich.
Twists on this sandwich
You could break up the pork if you wanted like more of a pulled pork situation after searing it. I almost actually smashed it into the bread a bit more. In the end I was really happy with how perfectly formed the pork belly was so I didn’t want to break it up. It was so tender in the adobo sandwich! If you want the actual traditional recipe I used as a guide to make this, check this one out.
For more unique sandwiches, check out my lemon pepper wet fried chicken sandwich, this red curry fish sandwich, or this amazing Italian wedding meatball sub!
Pork Belly Adobo Sandwich
Ingredients
Adobo
- 1.25 pounds pork belly 2 large slabs, about 8 – 10 inches long
- 15 cloves garlic
- 15 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup cane vinegar
Bok choy
- 2 heads baby bok choy separated, cleaned, and trimmed
- 2 tablespoons chili oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 2 inches ginger minced or grated
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cane sugar vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed
- pinch of salt
Sandwich
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons banana sauce
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
- 2 sandwich rolls, or one long one
- 4 slices provolone
Instructions
Prepare the pork
- Preheat oven to 225
- Very lightly salt the pork belly. There is a lot of soy sauce in the recipe so you don’t want to over salt.
- Put all the adobo ingredients into a pot and add in the pork belly. Toss to combine and coat the pork.
- Bake for about 2 or 3 hours until a fork goes into the pork easily but it is not fully falling apart.
- Place the pork into a container (just the pork) and let it sit in the fridge for at least 5 hours. You can skip this step but it makes the pork easier to work with and less likely to fall apart.
- Strain the sauce and put it in a separate container in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Prep the bok choy
- Add the chili oil to a pan along with a splash of olive oil. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook while stirring for a few minutes.
- Add in the bok choy and stir. Then add in all the rest of the ingredients. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Make the sandwiches
- In a small bowl stir together the mayo, banana sauce, hot sauce, and mustard.
- Preheat a cast iron or non stick pan to high heat. Add a splash of olive oil. Add in the pork belly and cook on high for about 3 minutes per side until all 4 sides are browned.
- Add the sauce to the pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, flipping the pork once during that time.
- Preheat the broiler to high and lightly heat the bread on all sides to soften it and crisp up the crusts. Cut it down the center.
- Spread the sauce onto the breads. Then add the provolone.
- Add the slab of pork belly along with a few spoonfuls of the sauce. Add in bok choy. Drizzle on more of the pork cooking liquid.
- I like to roll up the sandwich in some parchment paper before serving!
I love it. I want it now.