Pork belly, adobo style

I had adobo in my sub-conscious all week. It's one of those dishes that I really enjoy but I haven't found a good recipe for yet. I put some requests out to a couple of my friends and I really hope I get a tried and true, family-approved recipe soon!

Dinner tonight is leftover Portuguese bean soup, but I had about half a pound of sliced pork belly that I needed to find a use for. I decided to adjust an adobo recipe and turn the pork belly into an appetizer that sort of combined adobo with another favorite Filipino dish, lechon kawali.


I had already cut the belly slices into pieces and salted them last night so I popped them into a pan and cooked them till they were lightly browned and some of the fat had rendered out.


I drained the pork on paper towels while I prepared the sauce.


Since I wasn't cooking the pork in the sauce, I omitted the vegetable oil and nearly all of the water from the chosen recipe. Approximate measurements: 5T. white vinegar, 4 T. shoyu, 3 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and a sploosh of water.


I heated the sauce in the same pan I used for the pork (drained the excess fat first!) and let it reduce.


While the sauce was reducing, I thought of lechon kawali and how it is usually served with a vinegary, peppery sauce containing sliced onions and tomatoes. I sliced some onion and threw it onto the pork and then found I didn't have any tomatoes...


But I did have strawberries. I know this sounds weird but they have a tart acidity like tomatoes do. I think it worked! A nice sprinkling of more black pepper and there you go!

Eric is not a huge adobo fan (I know, right?) but even he said it was quite good. So thumb's up from the guys and a 5 turtle rating from me. Now if one of my friends would just send me a real adobo recipe!
Here is the promised link:

Adobo

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kincaid's/Ryan's Grill-Style Pea Salad

Image
I was so sad when Ryan's Grill in Ward Centre closed down. For many years it was a favorite gathering place for both my family and my friends. Similarly Kincaid's, formerly Horatio's, at the now demolished Ward Warehouse was, too. I always ordered the pea salad that both restaurants served and have been wanting to re-create it. Today's recipe is the closest I've come! Today's cast! Sour cream, mayo, salt, and pepper are combined for the dressing. In the meantime, I put the frozen peas into a colander to help them thaw and drain. After that, it's just a bunch of chopping. Interestingly, the recipe mentioned that Hormel bacon bits work much better than bacon that has been cooked up and drained. Who am I to argue? I added the bacon bits to the dressing along with chopped water chestnuts and red onions. I de-stringed the Chinese peas. Sugar snap peas can also be used. The peas and pea pods were combined with the dressing, then I popped it into the fridge. The re...
Read more

Anthony Bourdain's Macau-Style Pork Chop Sandwich

Image
I read, and own, all of Anthony Bourdain's books except Kitchen Confidential.  It seems like an odd omission considering it's the book that made him famous and brought to light a dirty side of the restaurant business that the public apparently loved hearing about, but no, for me, it was his first show, A Chef's Tour, followed by No Reservations,  that really made me a fan. Yes, the show was about food, but more importantly it was about the people who made the food and the places the food grew out of. That cultural and historical connection has always been the key factor in my own burgeoning food obsession. Bourdain was sarcastic and edgy but he was also intelligent, well-read and so adept at putting words together to unite the food with its people into an appreciative, thoughtfully crafted whole. His suicide in 2018 saddened me in a way I would never have anticipated. I decided that henceforth I would honor his influence on my culinary interests and every year, on his bir...
Read more

Ethereally smooth hummus

Image
I swear I didn't name it. My sister had sent me the link after I posted about making falafel. My friend, D, loves hummus but doesn't like it when it's gritty or chalky. This seemed like it would be right up her alley. Today's cast! Once the skins began to loosen, I drained the water and put the beans into a pot on the stove. Over medium heat, I sautéed them with some baking soda. The soda is supposed to make them less gassy. I'll keep you posted on that one. After a few minutes I added the water and brought it up to a boil. There's a whole lot of foam at the beginning. Skim it off and discard it. Let the beans simmer for about 20 minutes or until they can be easily split. Here's a perfectly cooked bean; the skin slides right off of it and it separates easily into two halves. In order for the hummus to be "ethereally smooth," all the skins must be removed. I don't mind doing this (see my post on Falafel) but cooked ...
Read more