Pork Pochero

Pork Pochero is a slightly sweet and very savory filling tomato based pork stew. All you need are saba bananas, potatoes, carrots, sauteed till browned, then sauteed pork belly chunks, all these taken out to make the stew base of onions, garlic, tomatoes, black pepper, fish sauce, and water. Place the meat and vegetables back, adding tomato sauce, sugar, a pork broth cube, pork n’ beans, green beans, and some cabbage. A well loved stew by many Filipinos, find out how it’s prepared down below.

Pork Pochero Recipe :

Ingredients

• 1 kilo pork belly ( sliced into chunks )
• 5 pieces semi-ripe saba bananas ( sliced into big chunks )
• 2 small potatoes ( chopped )
• 2 small carrots ( chopped )
• 1 medium onion ( minced )
• 5 cloves garlic ( minced )
• 3 medium tomatoes ( chopped )
• Black pepper to taste
• Fish sauce to taste
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• ½ tablespoon sugar ( optional )
• 1 piece pork broth cube
• 1 cup pork n’ beans
• Green beans
• 1 small cabbage ( roughly cut )
• Oil for frying

Steps:

1. Heat some oil in a pan. Cook bananas until lightly browned then set aside. Saute potatoes and carrots till browned and set aside. 
2. Saute pork until these change in color and the fats start to render. Take these out. In the same pan, saute onions and garlic until aromatic. Place in tomatoes and cook till soft enough to crush.
3. Add back the seared pork and saute for a minute. Turn the heat to medium-low. Then mix in black pepper, fish sauce and water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or till the pork is tender. The fork should easily pierce the pork.
4. Pour in tomato sauce, sugar, and pork broth cube. Give this a good stir before covering to simmer for 3 – 5 minutes. Add in the pork n’ beans, carrots, potatoes, and bananas. Give it a good mix.
5. Add in some green beans and small cabbage. Mix till the vegetables are tender before serving.

How to cook this Pork Pochero Recipe

“Pochero” sometimes spelled as “Putsero” is a Spanish influenced dish that has been adapted with Filipino flavors. The dish got its name from where it’s cooked, “Pochero” by itself means a “Stew Pot” this type of dish is used to be made with any of the meat and vegetables abundant for each season and is mixed and stewed in the pot. A meaty, very savory, and subtly sweet dish. How do you make Pochero? or “Paraan ng Pagluluto ng Pochero?” a hearty dish that’s not only meaty but filled with a lot of veggies. This dish is also great for hiding vegetables from little kids. A flavorful dish that’s great for the colder weather or on days you want a really warm dish to relax to.

The Pocherong Baboy ingredients and steps start with cooking bananas till lightly brown on all sides, then repeating with the potatoes and carrots, setting these aside later. Then cook the pork chunks till the oils have rendered and they have a nice browning on all sides. Take these out again to make the base of the stew which is a mix of different aromatics like onions and garlic, tomatoes to add a savory taste and color, then add back the cooked pork pieces. Saute everything together before adding some black pepper and enough water to cover the pork. Simmer till the pork is tender enough to be easily expired with a fork. This should take more or less 30 minutes. Then add in tomato sauce which also helps thicken up and deepen the flavor of the sauce, adding some sugar if it tastes too acidic, and a pork broth cube. Stirring everything together before letting it simmer once again just so the flavors blend well together.  After, add in pork n’ beans, the cooked carrots, potatoes, and bananas. Mix everything together and all the vegetables have been covered with the sauce. Then add in some greens like cabbage and green beans, covering to cook just till the cabbage wilts and the beans are tender. Mix well before serving. A great addition for a list of lunch meal plans. 

Questions ?

• Pork Pochero Calories

A serving or a cup, can have around 400 calories.

• Different pochero styles ?
  • Pork Pochero Recipe Bisaya – it uses fish sauce instead of salt, most of the time it uses beef or beef shanks, has ginger and lemongrass added in its list of aromatics, sometimes adding corn and bok choy. The biggest difference is that it’s an almost clear broth as there are no tomatoes added, if there was it usually adds tomatoes itself instead of a tomato sauce or paste. Then you search for “pochero no tomato sauce” this version will come up.
  • Pork Pochero Recipe Ilonggo Style or “Pochero Ilonggo” – sometimes has an addition of kamote ( sweet potatoes ) and no tomato sauce. Very close to the Bisaya style pochero.
  • Pocherong Baboy Batangas – which is this Yummy Kitchen version recipe below. Adding tomato sauce or tomato paste to get that rich red color and strong savory taste.

• Additional ingredients
  • Add any type of leafy vegetables you prefer, from spinach, bok choy, pechay, or other greens.
  • Some make “Pork Pochero with Chorizo” since depending on the type the Spanish chorizo adds to the smokey and salty flavor while Chinese chorizo tastes sweeter and has the typical Chinese flavoring, almost like 5 spice, these are also sometimes spicy.
  • Since you can add chorizo, try adding hotdogs or sausages. With a lot of variations you can try adding more or less your favorite vegetables, some cured meats, and sometimes any leftovers in the fridge you need to finish/eat.

• Pork substitute
  • Try out different meats such as fish fillets, or whole descaled medium sized to smaller fishes to make “Fish Pochero Recipe”.
  • A popular version of pochero is the “Pocherong Baka Filipino Style Recipe” (beef pochero recipe), using beef chunks, though these might take more time to simmer till it turns tender. That is unless chopped into smaller chunks.
  • Another fan-favorite version is the “Chicken Pochero Recipe” ( or sometimes called “Chicken with Pork and Beans”) using the whole chicken chopped into parts, just the leg, or breasts.

Other Yummy Pork Recipes!

• Pork Chop Steak
• Crispy Pork Belly
• Creamy Mushroom Pork Chop
• Pechay with Ground Pork
• Braised Pork Spareribs
• Soy Pepper Pork
• Pork Katsudon

Pork Pochero Resipi: (Tagalog version)

Mga Sangkap :

• 1 kilo pork belly ( hiniwa ng malalaki )
• 5 piraso may pagka hinog na mga saba ( hiniwa ng malalaki )
• 2 piraso patatas ( hiniwa )
• 2 maliliit na karot ( hiniwa )
• 1 sibuyas ( tinadtad )
• 5 butil ng bawang ( tinadtad )
• 3 kamatis ( hiniwa )
• Paminta panlasa
• Patis panlasa
• 2 tasa tubig
• 1 tasa tomato sauce
• ½ kutsarang asukal ( opsyonal )
• 1 piraso pork broth cube
• 1 tasa pork n’ beans
• Sitaw 
• 1 maliit na repolyo ( hiniwa )

Paano Lutuin :

1. Maginit ng mantika sa kawali. Lutuin ang mga saba hanggang mag kayumanggi at itabi. Lutuin ang mga patatas at karots sa parehong paraan at itabi. 
2. Lutuin ang mga baboy hanggang magiba ng kulay at magrender ang mga ito. Tanggalin. Sa parehong kawali, lutuin ang mga sibuyas at bawang hanggang bumango. Ihalo ang mga kamatis at lutuin hanggang malambot.
3. Ibalik ang mga lutong baboy at haluin ng 1 minuto. Ilagay sa medium-low na init. Ibuhos ang paminta, patis, at tubig. Takpan at pakuluin ng 30 minuto o hanggang lumambot ang mga baboy. Dapat mabilis matusok ng tinidor ang mga baboy.
4. Buhusin ang tomato sauce, asukal, at pork broth cube. Haluin ng mabuti at takpan muli ng 3 – 5 minuto. Dagdagan ng pork n’ beans, karots, patatas, at saba at haluin muli.
5. Lagyan ng sitaw at mga repolyo. Haluin hanggang lumambot ang mga ito bago ihanda.