Igado

Pork and liver cut in matchsticks, with the liver cooked separately and put back at the end.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 400 g pork loin, in matchsticks
• 300 g pork liver, in matchsticks
• 200 g pork heart, in matchsticks
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 60 ml vinegar
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, in strips
• 100 g frozen peas
• 2 bay leaves
• 300 ml water
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Method

1. COOK THE LIVER SEPARATELY AND PUT IT BACK AT THE END. Liver is done in 90 seconds and the loin needs half an hour. In the pot together, by the time the pork is tender the liver is grey and chalky -- which is the single reason people say they do not like this dish.
2. Everything in MATCHSTICKS, 5 mm by 4 cm, pork and liver and heart alike. The uniform cut is the look of the dish and it also means the pieces cook at rates you can predict.
3. Marinate the loin and heart in the soy and pepper, 30 minutes. Keep the liver out of it: soy draws water out of liver and firms it before it ever sees a pan.
4. Sear the liver in 1 tablespoon of oil over a high heat, 60 to 90 seconds, just until it loses its raw colour outside. Lift it out and set it aside.
5. Garlic and onion in the rest of the oil, 3 minutes. Loin and heart in with their marinade, 5 minutes.
6. Vinegar in and LEAVE IT WITHOUT STIRRING for 2 minutes at a boil, to cook the rawness off it.
7. Water and bay in. Cover and simmer 35 minutes, until the heart gives under a knife.
8. Bell pepper and peas in, 3 minutes.
9. Liver back in for the last 60 seconds only, folded through to warm. Pepper, and taste.

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