Hamonado

Pork braised sweet in pineapple, marinated briefly because pineapple does not stop.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork shoulder, in 4 cm pieces
• 400 g crushed pineapple, with its juice
• 150 g brown sugar
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 1 whole head of garlic, crushed
• 500 ml water
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. MARINATE FOUR HOURS, NOT OVERNIGHT. Pineapple tenderises meat and it carries on doing it for as long as it is in contact, so a long marinade gives you a mushy outside and a firm middle. This is the reverse of the tapa on this site, where two days is the point.
2. Turn the pork through the pineapple and its juice and leave it 4 hours in the fridge.
3. Tip the lot into a heavy pot with the soy, garlic, bay, salt and water. Bring it to a boil and skim.
4. Simmer covered 2 hours, until a fork goes in without argument.
5. ADD THE SUGAR ONLY NOW. In from the start it catches on the bottom of the pot over two hours and turns bitter.
6. Take the lid off and boil it down 15 to 20 minutes, turning the pieces, until the liquid is a sticky glaze that coats them.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes