Twice the Fun Pork Adobo
Adobo is, undoubtedly, the most popular of all Filipino dishes. Thanks to our long history of ingenious Filipino culinary skill, adobo has evolved to a myriad of tasteful variations, but the base is almost always the same: soy sauce, vinegar and other flavorings, most commonly garlic and black peppercorns.
In simpler and broader terms, adobo is any dish cooked in these trinity of ingredients. The cooking process traditionally requires marinating the meat in this mixture and simmering it in the same marinade until cooked. While I innately prefer pork for this, it is not the only option: Chicken works just as well, and so does squid, string beans, and other seafood and vegetables.
My version is heavily influenced by my late grandmother’s cooking. Instead of marinating the meat, I first sauté the garlic and brown sugar together to create an aromatic and sweet base flavor. The meat goes in next, and then I stew it in what should have been the marinade until very tender. I specifically like using pork belly for this, although other cuts of meat are more commonly used.
A deviation I make is the addition of salt. One might argue (my grandmother included, I’m sure) that the soy sauce should give adobo the saltiness it needs, but I discovered that adding even just a tiny bit of salt will give it a more well-rounded flavor. Give it a try—you will be pleased with the result.
Typically, I would stop right here. But when I stumbled upon this adobo recipe, I decided to draw inspiration from here as well and to my surprise, it worked so well! This version of adobo brings the dish up to another notch by adding sukang pinakurat or spiced vinegar—a very tangy and spicy kind of vinegar that is gaining popularity in the Philippines in recent years. Just don’t forget to add the sugar to balance the extra acid added to your adobo!
Twice the Fun Pork Adobo
Ingredients
- 500 grams pork belly
- 2 heads garlic minced
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup red cane vinegar
- 1/4 cup sukang pinakurat
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups water
- Canola oil for cooking
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a skillet. Sauté the garlic until fragrant and slightly toasted but not burned, around three minutes.
- Add the pork and brown for 10 minutes under high heat or until no longer pink.
- Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the soy sauce and one cup water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the meat does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- After 30 minutes, the mixture should significantly reduce to a shiny and almost sticky consistency. At this point, add the red cane vinegar, sukang pinakurat, brown sugar and bay leaves. Add the remaining water, ¼ cup at a time, to give the meat more liquid to boil in. No need to add the remaining ¼ cup if the pork has reached your desired tenderness.
- Season with salt and cracked blacked pepper. Serve with warm rice.
As with many other food bloggers out there, I am no chef. I come with no culinary training whatsoever, and so it’s not at all surprising that my kitchen adventures are punctuated by frequent mishaps and blunders. Yet, there are recipes that I seem to make much better than others. And so, after years of prodding from family and friends, here I am, sharing the little that I know.
Why “gourmand,” you ask? Simply because I like making and eating good food. I can eat a lot, too—so there you go!