Tocino is a popular Filipino cured pork dish made with soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and other ingredients to give its famous savory-sweet taste.
Tocino is sometimes called sweet red pork and is usually prepared as a breakfast food. The process of preparing it varies but the end result is an addictive, savoury and sweet cure that will satisfy anyone who tries it. Chicken and beef can also be used in making tocino.
Origin & Cultural Significance
Tocino is a popular Filipino food that originated from the colonization of Spain in the Philippines. It is cured meat that is popular not just in the Philippines but also in other Spanish colonized countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.
A tribe in the Philippines called Kapampangan ferment the meat at room temperature for four to six hours to achieve the desired thickness and tenderness.
Traditionally, Filipinos boil water just enough to cover the meat and fry it over medium heat until the fat is rendered. Tocino is usually served during breakfast or lunch, together with some garlic rice and egg which they often call tosilog.
Filipino Tocino Recipe
Tocino is a popular Filipino cured pork dish made with soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and other ingredients to give its famous savory-sweet taste.
Ingredients
- Pork Shoulder – 600g
- Coconut Sugar – 40g
- Brown Rice Syrup – 1/3 cup
- Garlic (Grated) – 20g
- Soy Sauce – 1
- Celery Juice – 2 Tbsp
- Salt - 1 ½ Tsp
- Annatto Seeds (Ground) – 2 Tsp
- Black Pepper (Ground) – ¼ Tsp
- Kiwi Juice – 1 Tbsp
Instructions
- Prepare the pork shoulders and slice it against the grain with ¼-inch thick slices. Then, from that, cut it again into bite size pieces.
- Get a bowl, whisk, and thoroughly mix together the rice syrup, garlic, coconut sugar, soy sauce, salt, ground pepper, ground annatto, and celery juice. If having trouble melting the sugar, heat it up in the microwave.
- Add the kiwi juice followed by the bite-sized pork pieces. Use gloves when mixing the pork into the marinade.
- Cure the marinated meat by covering the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for three to seven days.
- Use a non-stick pan to cook the tocino.
- Identify if pork is fatty or not to know if oil is still needed. If it’s fatty, no need to add some oil, but if it’s lean, add a bit of oil to the pan.
- Cook the pork tocino by lining it into the pan over medium heat. You will notice that some liquid will come out of the pork which will make it start to boil.
- Flip the meat to evenly glaze the meat and repeat the process until there is no liquid left. Do this step until the tocino starts to become brown.
- Once it starts to brown, take it out of the heat and serve it with rice.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 604Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 1252mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 36g