Filipino Pork Hamonado (Hamonado Baboy)
This pork hamonado recipe features melt-in-your-mouth pieces of pork belly braised in a sweet and sour pineapple soy sauce that will blow your mind.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¾ cup pineapple juice
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp peppercorn
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1.5 lbs pork belly
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 shallots OR 1 onion
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
Instructions
- Mix together soy sauce, pineapple juice, water, brown sugar, peppercorns and bay leaf.
- Heat about a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. You won’t need too much as the pork will release plenty of oil on its own.Add the pork belly in a single layer and fry it for about 2 to 3 minutes until it turns lightly brown. Turn it over and do the same to the other side.Brown the pork belly in batches if you need to. Set each batch aside on a plate as its finished browning.
- After browning all of the pork belly, you’ll have quite a lot of oil. Draining most of this grease will make the pork hamonado much less oily when it’s finished.Note: Don’t drain all of it! Leave about a tablespoon of the pork fat in the skillet to cook the vegetables with.
- Add shallots (or onions) and garlic and sauté for around 2 to 3 minutes until softened.
- Deglaze the pan with about 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- Add the pork belly back to the pot. Pour the sauce in and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and let it simmer for 40 minutes to an hour.
- Add the pineapples. Note: You can add the pineapple at the very end and let them cook for a minute or two just to heat up. Or you can add them in and let them simmer while you reduce the sauce. It’s completely up to you.
- Serve and enjoy! OR you can uncover the pot and let it boil for another 15 to 20 minutes to reduce the sauce.
Notes
The best part of pork to use for hamonado? Any cut of pork that has plenty of fat and connective tissues. Pork belly is perfect. Pork shoulder is also delicious as these cuts are nicely marbled with fat and connective tissues. Perfect for the slow braising we’ll be doing with the pork hamonado. Pork neck, legs, and hocks are also good.
What kind of pineapple to use? You can use fresh pineapple or more conveniently, canned pineapple. Look for cans that have the pineapples in their own juice. Avoid syrup as these tend to be saccharine sweet and miss that tangy flavor that’s so great about pineapple juice.