Every time you go out to have a food adventure out on the streets, there is a high chance that you won’t miss the famous Filipino Pork Barbecue. If you’re somehow missing the taste of these delicious pork on sticks, now is the time you can make it!
The procedure is simple, just read the recipe article below and you’re ready to serve and impress your family and friends in no time.
What is Filipino Pork Barbecue?
The Filipino pork barbecue is something distinct everyone enjoys all over the country. These are the pork slices that are skewered using bamboo sticks which are marinated, resulting in a thick and tasty sauce that leaves an irresistible taste after every bite.
These pork barbecues are traditionally grilled over charcoal and are usually partnered with vinegar dips.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Pork
For the pork barbecue, common pork parts to pick are pork shoulder (kasim) and pork ham (pigue).
Citrus
Since this is a Filipino style barbecue, we will be using calamansi as the acid of choice since it also gives a unique flavor. If you can’t find calamansi, you can always replace this with lemon.
Soda
We are also using a clear lime or lemon flavored soda. Popular brands would be Sprite or 7-up, but any similar brand will do.
Dip
The pork barbecue sticks are good on its own, but you can still always make them extra special by adding a vinegar dip when serving them. This ensures that the people you are serving are going to have a good time eating the barbecue you just made.
Aside from these, you will also use regular pantry ingredients like garlic, soy sauce, sugar, salt, black pepper, and ketchup . If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Grill- Pork barbecue is traditionally cooked over a charcoal grill and this is still the best way of cooking this. You may opt to use other types of grillers like a grilling pan or electric griller but it does affect the flavor.
- Skewers- You may also use bamboo skewers for the pork slices to make it easier to handle while grilling.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Cook Filipino Pork Barbecue
I’m sure that you are excited to try and cook these yummy pork on sticks yourself, but this takes quite some time to prepare since we still need to marinate the pork, like almost every other delicious Filipino dish out there.
So once you have all of your ingredients with you, your first priority is to make the marinade, which is actually easy to do. All you have to do is gather up all of your ingredients except the pork slices in one bowl and mix them well.
Once you think that’s good enough, it is time to soak those pork slices in and the waiting game starts now.
After that, the procedure will be as easy as pie!
The next thing you need to do is to prepare the basting sauce, which is the same ingredients as the marinade. You can use the marinade also as the basting sauce, but it is not quite recommended because it might already contain some bacteria which means it is not safe.
So if you can, make a new one for the basting sauce. And then after that, it is grilling time! Grill while basting every now and then just until the pork is cooked through.
Cooking Tips
- If you have the extra time and extra ingredients, you can replace the marinade you made for the pork slices with newer and fresher ingredients for the basting sauce. This is to ensure that there are no bacteria present in the sauce and bring you a safer meal.
- A good secret tip you can do for enhanced flavors of the meat is to marinate overnight, since this time yields the best results. But do take note that any longer than 24 hours may result in the meat breaking down and presenting unpleasant taste because the lemon juice can be quite acidic.
- One useful tip that you can apply during the cooking process is to soak the bamboo skewers first in water for 30 minutes to 1 hour before you skewer the pork slices. This is to prevent the sticks from burning when it is time for grilling.
- There is a high chance that a lot of the barbecue will be left over because this recipe makes for a huge amount.
- A good thing you can do to keep the barbecue fresh is to cook just the right amount of sticks you think is enough for the meal or for the day and transfer the rest of the marinated pork into resealable airtight bags and store them.
How to Serve Filipino Pork Barbecue
Pork barbecue is best served fresh off the grill. It is served with freshly cooked white rice or java rice. It is also best to serve this with atchara or any pickled dish and a dipping sauce made up of soy sauce and calamansi alongside it.
How to Store and Reheat Filipino Pork Barbecue
To store leftovers, transfer the chicken into a clean food container with lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, you can either use a microwave oven or a conventional oven.
Other Grilled Recipes
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Classic Pork Barbecue Recipe
Equipment
- Charcoal grill
- Bamboo skewers
Ingredients
- 2 kg (4.4 lbs) pork shoulder or pork butt, sliced into ¼-inch pieces
- 1 head garlic, minced
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup calamansi juice, lemon juice
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup banana ketchup
- 1 can lemon or lime soda, (Sprite or 7-up)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- bamboo skewers (barbecue sticks), cleaned
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add in the garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, banana ketchup, and lemon soda. Then add in the pork shoulders.
- Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Reserve the marinade and use it to baste the pork.
- Skewer 3 to 4 pieces of pork slice per stick.
- Put up the grill over medium heat. Cook the barbecue while turning and basting every few minutes. Grill until the pork is cooked through.
- Serve and enjoy! You can add vinegar dip for this.
Notes
Nutrition
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