Pork Humba

Pork humba is a Filipino pork dish made by simmering pork belly in a savoury sauce made with pineapple juice, onion, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, banana blossoms, black beans, bay leaves and pepper. It is considered as a delicacy and is a common dish in parties and gatherings. This yummy kitchen pork humba recipe will show you how to cook Pork Humba that will get you compliments and appreciation from your guests. Pork Humba is best partnered with some hot steaming rice and best eaten during lunches and dinners. Yum!

PORK HUMBA RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo pork belly (or kasim)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 240 ml pineapple juice
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 3 to 4 pieces dried bay leaves
• Pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of banana blossoms
• 2 tablespoons of black beans
• 1 to 2 cups of water

Directions:

1. Prepare the pork belly and cut them into serving portions. Add them to a heated pan (no oil) and then sear for a few minutes. Flip them to cook the other side. When the meat has browned and the oil has been rendered, set them aside.
2. Remove some of the oil from the pan. Add the garlic and onions and saute for a few minutes. Add the seared pork belly back to the pan and saute them altogether.
3. Pour the pineapple juice and the soy sauce. Add some black pepper, sugar, dried bay leaves, and banana blossoms.
4. Pour 1 to 2 cups of water to help cook the meat. (Add more if needed). Cover the pan and let it simmer for 45 to 60 minutes or until the pork is tender. Stir in between cooking to prevent burning.
5. After an hour, add the vinegar. Do not stir for 3 minutes. Wait for the raw taste of the vinegar to evaporate before stirring. Then, add the black beans. Cover again and let it cook for a few minutes until the sauce has been reduced. Turn the heat off.
6. Transfer the pork humba to a serving plate. Enjoy this together with a big bowl of hot steaming rice. Yum!

PORK HUMBA

Soy sauce-based dishes in the Philippines is actually quite amazing. With just a very little tweak with either an ingredients or a process in the cooking, one dish is now unique to another dish. For example, the simple adobo is made into bistek by substituting vinegar with calamansi extract. Also, there can be defining ingredients which will easily tell you which is which. For example, you can easily identify pork steak if you see that a dish has a lot of onion rings on top. For the pork humba, that one defining ingredient would be the banana blossoms.

Just like other dishes, pork humba is cooked differently throughout the country. This pork humba recipe is the one I inherited from my lola. Pork humba is almost similar to adobo, but uses two types of souring agent, namely vinegar and pineapple juice, and is also sweeter in taste.

We usually prepare pork humba using liempo during regular family lunches. But for special occasions, we usually used the pata part for that nanunuot na sarap to the bones. There is no other partner for this pork humba rather than some hot steaming rice.

If you wanna know how to make pork humba, read and follow the simple steps below. Yum!

HOW TO MAKE PORK HUMBA

Making some pork humba is actually easier than you imagine. This dish can be prepared in around an hour.

Start by slicing your pork belly. You can also try this recipe with other pork cuts (try it with the pata ones!). Sear them first to add more flavors to the dish and to render some meaty oil. Saute the aromatics together and then add the seasonings. The seasonings most essential for a dish to be humba are pineapple juice, soy sauce, sugar, dried bay leaves, and banana blossoms. Other versions add some tahore or crushed fermented tofu but that is totally optional.

The last steps would be simmering the meat in the sauce until tender. The last two ingredients to add are the vinegar and the black beans for contrasting sour and salty flavors.

I really love my pork humba as a rice topper in my big bowl of hot rice. Try one today!

Pork Humba Recipe (TAGALOG)

Mga Aangkap:

• 1 kilo pork belly (or kasim)
• 5 butil ng bawang
• 1 sibuyas
• 240 ml ng pineapple juice
• ½ tasa ng toyo
• ¼ tasa ng suka
• 1 kutsara ng asukal
• 3 to 4 piraso ng dahon ng laurel
• Paminta
• 1 bugkos ng bulaklak ng saging
• 2 kutsara ng tausi
• 1 to 2 tasa ng tubig

Paano lutuin:

1. Ihanda ang pork belly at hiwain ito sa serving size. Ilagay ang belly sa mainit na kawali at iprito bahagya nang ilang minuto. Baliktarin at lutuin ang kabilang side. Kapag nagmantika na, isantabi muna ito sa isang lalagyan.
2. Bawasan ang mantika sa kawali. Ilagay ang bawang at sibuyas, at gisahin ito nang ilang minuto. Ibalik ang pork belly at gisahin itong mabuti.
3. Ibuhos ang pineapple juice at toyo. Sunod na ilagay ang paminta, asukal, dahon ng laurel, at bulaklak ng saging.
4. Lagyan ng 1 hanggang 2 tasa ng tubig para mas maluto ang pork belly (dagdagan kung kinakailangan). Takpan ang kawali para hindi masunog.
5. Pagkatapos ng isang oras, ilagay ang suka. Wag muna itong haluin ng 3 minuto. Hintaying mawala ang matapang na amoy ng suka bago haluin. Sunod na idagdag ang tausi at takpan hanggang maluto. Patayin ang apoy.
6. Ilipat ang pork humba  sa serving plate. Enjoyin ito kasama ng malaking bowl ng mainit na kanin. Yum!