The Pork Pochero or Pocherong Baboy is a great comfort food after a tiring day from work on a weeknight. It is also great for weekends wherein you just want to have good food with your family and have a good time.
This dish is super easy to learn and is very delicious at the same time. You can learn how to cook the pork pochero now by reading this recipe article, and you can also learn some tips and tricks along the way.
What is Pork Pochero?
The pork pochero is a type of meat stew that comes from the cultural influences during the Spanish colonization period here in the Philippines. It is made of a tomato-based sauce partnered with sweet bananas (plantain banana or saba banana) unlike other dishes which also uses tomatoes for stew.
Other ingredients included are potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and leaf vegetables, with bok choy being the most commonly used.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Pork
This dish is quite versatile when it comes to the pork cut to use. While pork belly (liempo) will bring out the most flavor, you can also use pork shoulder (kasim) or pork loin.
Pork and Beans
You will also need canned pork and beans for this recipe. You can pick any brand you prefer.
Vegetables
If you want to have different ingredients instead of the usual duo–the potatoes and carrots, you can substitute that with other ingredients which are a little out of the usual. You can try to use sweet potatoes as a replacement for potatoes, and then turnips, as a replacement for carrots.
Saba
The saba bananas used in this recipe are fresh, ripe, and firm bananas. This is the ideal state of saba bananas which you can use for this dish, and it gives the perfect amount of sweetness in this otherwise savory dish.
Just make sure to not forget to lightly fry the saba bananas first so it won’t fall apart when added into the pork pochero.
Aside from these, you will also use regular pantry ingredients like onion, garlic, fish sauce, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and cooking oil. If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Cooking Pot (Kaldero)- We will do a simple stewing to cook this dish and you will be needing a regular kaldero or cooking pot to do this. You can also use any casserole or pan deep enough to contain the liquids involved in this recipe.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Cook Pork Pochero
The pork pochero dish appears to be festive because it comes with ingredients you wouldn’t usually expect to be together, and it seems rather intimidating. Don’t worry, this can be done even for beginners, so you can relax and have fun while cooking this dish!
To start, we can divide the procedure into two parts. First part is to cook the variety of the ingredients that we have in this recipe. The second part is to cook the pork belly itself along with other seasonings and spices.
The first part only includes pan frying the ingredients. The goal is to lightly cook the ingredients and get them to be tender. This is to prevent these ingredients from easily breaking apart when we proceed to the boiling part.
Cooking the pork belly includes boiling the meat in pork broth, or water, along with a mix of spices and some seasonings. The goal is to make the pork belly as tender and to make it release its full flavor, for a delightful time when eating. This is also the time where the sauce will thicken, making it even more pleasing to the tongue.
Cooking Tips
- The best type of pork meat to use for this dish is the pork belly. This is because the fat that comes from the pork belly gives off a richer flavor for the overall dish, and the texture of the pork belly is more tender than other parts. But don’t worry since this dish is not limited to pork belly only, you can choose leaner parts if you want a healthier option such as pork loin.
How to Serve Pork Pochero
Pork Pochero is served warm as lunch or dinner, with freshly cooked white rice. Feel free to have this with a cool beverage like iced tea or soda.
How to Store and Reheat Pork Pochero
In case you have leftovers, transfer to a clean food container with lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, you can use a microwave oven. Set at high for 3 minutes. You can also warm it in a pan, and reheat over a stovetop.
Other Filipino Pork Recipes
- Traditional Pork Humba Recipe
- Pork Adobo (Adobong Baboy) Recipe
- Pork Hamonado (Hamonadong Baboy) Recipe
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Pork Pochero (Pocherong Baboy) Recipe
Equipment
- Cooking Pot
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs) pork belly, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 1 can pork and beans
- 2 pcs saba bananas, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 pc large-sized potato, cut into wedges
- 1 pc medium-sized carrot, cut into chunks
- 2 pc medium-sized tomato, cut into chunks
- 1 pc onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch bok choy
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 cups pork broth, or water
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a cooking pot, pour-in and heat cooking oil over medium heat.
- Add-in the saba bananas, potatoes, and carrots. Cook until lightly browned then set aside.
- In the same cooking pot, add-in the onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Saute until soft and aromatic.
- Add-in the pork belly, fish sauce, tomato paste, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the pork is lightly browned.
- Add-in the pork broth. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until pork is tender and sauce thickens.
- Add-in the potatoes, carrots, and pork and beans. Lower heat and continue to simmer until tender.
- Add-in the saba bananas, and bok choy. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a serving plate or serving bowl. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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