Pork Asado

Pork asado is a sweet pork dish popular in Philippines, where cooked pork is served with a a sweet tomato based sauce made with tomatoes, onion, garlic, liver spread, soy sauce, bay leaves, peppercorns, tomato paste, calamansi juice, sugar, chili flakes and salt. This Kapampangan version of the pork asado is mostly favoured due to its savoury and tangy complex flavors from the combination of tomatoes, sugar, soy sauce, calamansi, and bayleaves. With its soft and tender meat and powerful sauce, the pork asado is often served with some thinly sliced fried potatoes on the side. Yum!

CHINESE ASADO VS KAPAMPANGAN ASADO

We usually hear the word asado when buying a siopao. We always associate the “asado” with the Char Siu or barbecue pork of China. The sauce of this dish is both sweet, salty and savoury and where slabs of meat are cut into thin slices afterwards. But did you know that we have our very own version of the asado by the Kapampangans?

Being a Chinese food lover who always go to Binondo in Manila to satisfy my food cravings, I was nearly in shock knowing that there is a Kapampangan version of the asado. We all know how the Kapampangans make their dishes and it really excites me to try it!

The first time I knew about this version of the asado is when my Kapampangan friend brought this dish to our dorm. I randomly asked her if I could take a bite on her food since it looks amazing. Assuming that it was either sweet or salty, I was surprised that the sauce of her asado is sour, realizing that the base of the sauce is made from tomatoes!

With the vast variety of Kapampangan dishes, pork asado is just one among the many dishes they prepare during celebrations and occassions. We can consider this Kapampangan asado as one of their traditional dishes.

While the kapampangan asado is best paired with hot steaming rice, I can quite atest that making it a filling for siopao or any bread is also a great choice!

PORK ASADO

Kapampangans really raised the standards when it comes to Filipino cooking. No other kapampangan dish had ever failed me.Ever since I tasted the Kapampangan version of asado, I was really inspired on learning how to make this recipe since I haven’t found a restaurant or even a karinderya which serves this version of pork asado. At least for now, I can prepare this recipe at home whenever I want!

I am sharing you this recipe so you don’t need to travel far away just to have a taste of this Kapampangan creation. I had to video call my friend just to know the ingredients, their quantity, and other tips on how to recreate the perfect pork asado.

If you wanna know how to make Kapampangan pork asado at home, simply read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!

HOW TO MAKE PORK ASADO

Preparing pork asado is quite easier than you imagine. While this dish is mainly the pork (or meat), the defining factor of an asado dish is the sauce. With this recipe, you’ll definitely say “sauce palang, ulam na!”

Unlike any other pork dishes, the slicing of the pork into serving pieces will be done last. So grab a large chunk of pork (or any meat), remove the fatty portions and marinate it in a combination of soy sauce and calamansi. When marinating a large chunk of meat, you don’t need to make a pool of marinade just to make sure that the meat is well covered. My hack for this one is to marinate the meat overnight instead of just a few hours, then flipping the meat every few minutes on each side. This hack can ensure that all sides of the pork can have their equal share on the flavors of the marinade.

After marinating, the first step in cooking the pork is searing. Remember that the pork will not fully cook with just searing, especially that we are dealing with a large chunk. Searing adds flavor to the dish and can also help seal the juices inside the pork, making it less prone to being dry.

The base of the asado sauce is made with the basic aromatics– garlic, onions and tomatoes. The meat is also slowly simmered in a broth with bay leaves and peppercorns, allowing the meat to unleash its natural flavors, all while being soft and juicy. Simmering the meat might take you around 40 minutes. Using a pressure cooker can lessen this cooking time by half, if you’re in a rush.

The goal of the simmering is to reduce the sauce into a thick one, making sure that the meat absorbed most of the flavors. Once you achieve this, you can separate the large chunk of meat for a while to cut into serving slices before drizzling the sauce over it. Garnish some freshly chopped spring onions over it. I also sometimes add some sesame seeds. This is a perfect partner for a big bowl of hot steaming rice. Yum!

Paano Magluto ng Pork Asado

Mga Sangkap:

• ½ kilo baboy (laman)
• 6 kamatis (hiniwa)
• 1 sibuyas (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 2 butil ng bawang (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 3 kutsarang liver spread
• ¼ tasang toyo
• dahon ng laurel
• pamintang buo
• 2 kutsarang tomato paste
• 1 tasang tubig
• asin
• 3 calamansi
• asukal
• chili flakes

Paano Lutuin:

1. Ihanda ang malalaking chunks ng baboy at ilagay sa malaking bowl. Pigain ang mga kalamansi dito at timplahan ng konting toyo. I-marinate ang mga ito ng ilang minuto.
2. Mapainit ng mantika sa kawali. Ilagay ang mga karne at iprito ng konti. Isantabi ang marinade. Baliktarin ang mga ito kada 2 minuto para maluto ang iba pang side. Kapag brown na ang labas ng karne, alisin ang mga ito sa kawali at isantabi muna.
3. Gamit ang parehong kawali, ilagay ang mga sibuyas, bawang at kamatis. Igisa ang mga ito ng ilang minuto hanggang maging light brown. Medyo durugin ang mga kamatis habang ginigisa para magtubig.
4. Ibalik ang mga karne sa kawali. Lagyan ito ng tubig saka ilagay ang dahon ng laurel at pamintang buo. Takpan ang kawali at hayaan itong maluto ng 40 minuto.
5. Kapag malambot na ang karne, ilagay ang marinade, liver spread, tomato paste, asukal at chili flakes. Haluin ang sauce ng mabuti. Baliktarin ang chunks ng karne ng ilang beses para manuot ang sauce.
6. Kapag lumapot na ang sauce, buhus-buhosan ng sauce ang karne habang niluluto. Patayin ang apoy.
7. Ilipat ang chunks ng karne sa isang chopping board at hiwain ng katamtamang slices.
8. Ilipat ang pork asado sa serving plate. Ibuhos sa ibabaw nito ang asado sauce at budburan ng spring onions sa ibabaw. Kainin ito kasama ng mainit na kanin o tinapay. Yum!