Mang Dolf’s Tried and Tested Tocino

Who can ever resist the lure of tocino with garlic fried rice and fried egg for breakfast… or any meal of the day for that matter? Tocino is a Spanish word for bacon and it is likely one of the lasting influences of Spain’s 400+ years of colonization in the Philippines. 

Living overseas, tocino is one of those Filipino dishes dearly missed. It is not readily available in other countries’ local groceries, so the next best thing is to make one’s own. You will find this recipe as close to the ones we have in the Philippines – except the ingredients are readily available in most supermarkets and minus preservatives we would rather NOT have. This is a very simple recipe you will be very happy to keep!

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Mang Dolf’s Homemade Tocino

Ingredients

1kg pork shoulder butt

1/2 cup and 1/3 cup brown/red sugar

1/2 cup minced garlic

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1 can or 300ml pineapple juice

1/2 tsp Ground black pepper

Procedures

1.

Slice the pork shoulder butt against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices and then cut the slices into bite-size pieces.

2.

Combine pork, minced garlic, salt, black pepper, brown/red sugar, pineapple juice, in a bowl one at a time.

3.

Mix all ingredients well.

(Optional: Add red food color to enhance the tocino color)

4.

Marinate for 1-2 hours covered, in the refrigerator. Ideally marinate meat mixture overnight.

5.

Heat the frying pan in medium fire. Simmer marinated pork with 1Tbsp water.

6.

When marinated pork is almost dry and syrupy, stir frequently to allow meat to caramelize evenly.

7.

Add 1 to 2 Tbsps vegetable or coconut oil since meat is lean. Once meat has caramelized, or becomes golden brown, remove from heat.

8.

Serve hot and enjoy.