Not being one to shy away from making any type of pork belly, I was immediately drawn to making this Filipino take on pork. From what I’ve read, this dish can be made from just about any cut of pork with fat on it, so pork belly seemed like the best choice—of course.
There are many recipes for this online, but I found one from a real-deal Filipino cook, and this one couldn’t be easier or more delicious. What sets the dish apart from other pork belly dishes I’ve made is the contrasting sweet and salty that comes from the pineapple and soy sauce, respectively. I used her recipe exactly as written, to ensure I didn’t screw it up.
Now I haven’t had a lot food from the Philippines, but this has got to be one of the best on their culinary menu. That said, I have my eye on a couple of other Filipino dishes, so we’ll have to see.
What you’ll need.
- 1 pound pork belly, cut into 2-inch pieces, about an inch thick
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 0.5 cup soy sauce (gluten-free, if preferred)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1T brown sugar
- 1t pepper corns
- 1t salt (I omitted this because soy sauce is already salty)
- 0.5 cup pineapple chunks (do yourself a favor and use fresh—canned pineapple would ruin this dish)
- dash of ground pepper
What to do:
Put the porkbelly in a deep pan—I used a 10-inch cast iron fry pan.
Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl until the salt (if using) and sugar are dissolved. Pour over the pork belly and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
As soon as it starts to boil, lower the heat, cover the cooking vessel with a lid, and allow the meat to gently simmer for 40-50 minutes.
At this point, if the liquids haven’t simmered off, leaving a thick sauce, turn up the heat a bit and cook a little longer to cook off some of the liquid.
Remove the meat and pineapple chunks to a serving dish, and then pour the remaining sauce over the meat.
Serve hot with rice.
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