Filipino Pork Adobo with Egg and Daikon Salad
Courtesy of Michael Joseph Madriguera, Executive Sous Chef, The Club at Kalea Bay (Naples, Fla.)
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the Marinade:
- pork belly - 3 lbs.
- Filipino soy sauce or dark Tamari - 1 cup
- garlic - 5 cloves, minced
- ground black pepper - 1 tsp.
- calamansi juice or lemon juice - 1/4 cup
- Ingredients for the Adobo:
- garlic - 1 cup, coarsely chopped
- white onions - 1 ea., large, cut in quarters
- Filipino soy sauce or dark tamari - 2 cups
- coconut vinegar or white vinegar - 1 cup
- water - 1 cup
- vegetable oil - 1 cup
- bay leaves - 10 ea.
- whole black peppercorn - 1/4 cup
- brown sugar - 1/2 cup
- Ingredients for the Toppings:
- brown eggs - 6 ea.
- green onions - 1/2 cup, chopped
- crispy fried garlic - 1 cup
- Ingredients for the Daikon Salad:
- daikon - 1 ea., large
- Roma tomatoes - 2 ea., cut in wedges
- red onion - 1 ea., small, sliced thinly
- green onions - 1 stalk, chopped
- kosher salt - 1/4 cup plus 1/2 tsp.
- white sugar - 1 Tbsp.
- rice wine vinegar - 1/2 cup
Instructions
- Cut the pork belly in about 1.5 inch thick and transfer in a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and set aside. Marinate for at least an hour. Remove from marinade and gently dry using a paper towel. Reserve the marinade.
- Boil the eggs according to your preference. (Chef's note: I like mine soft to medium boil at 7- or 8-minutes time.) Peel and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, gently fry three quarters of the chopped garlic in one cup of oil until golden brown. Strain the crispy garlic and reserve the garlic oil.
- In a separate pan, sear the pork belly using the garlic oil. Be careful not to burn the pork. Set aside and reserve the pan drippings. In the same pan, sauté the onions and the remaining garlic. Add the seared pork, the marinade, soy sauce, pan drippings, brown sugar, water, bay leaf and peppercorn. Cover and let it simmer for 40 minutes until the pork becomes tender. Stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Remove the lid then add the white vinegar. At this point, avoid stirring the pork and let the vinegar cook. Simmer for another 15 minutes until the sauce almost becomes dry but the natural fat comes out almost like a confit. At this point, you can turn off the heat. (Chef's note: Personally I let the pork cook longer in its own fat to crisp it up a bit.)
- Serve over a hot bowl of steamed jasmine rice and top with a boiled egg, fried garlic and scallions and a side of daikon salad (procedure below).
(Chef's note: Traditionally, we eat this the day after. We let it sit in the counter for a day or two then we can warm it up and eat it over white rice.)
Procedure for the Daikon Salad:
- Peel the daikon and slice thinly using a mandolin.
- Transfer in a bowl and toss in ¼ cup salt. Mix well and let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Rinse the daikon twice over running water and squeeze out all the liquid. You will have a quarter of the volume left of the daikon.
- Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.
- Toss well and reserve in the cooler before serving.
