Adobo is arguably the most popular dish in Philippine cuisine. Every Filipino knows this by heart and it is even gaining global popularity these days. One could easily recognize the pork adobo dish, until they are served the pork humba.
I mean both dishes look alike, smell alike, and would likely taste alike. This leads to confusion and this question: What is the difference between humba and adobo? Are they the same dish?
Humba is different from adobo for several reasons. Humba mainly uses pork as meat whereas adobo is versatile. Humba uses additional ingredients like black beans and banana blossoms that you wouldn’t see in an adobo dish. Humba has a slightly sweeter taste than adobo and lastly, humba is more popular in the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the country.
What is the Difference Between Humba and Adobo?
So what is causing the confusion? How are humba and adobo alike? When comparing humba and adobo (pork adobo to be specific), you’d notice physical similarities right away. Both would probably involve the same cuts of meat and both would be cooked by braising the meat in a sauce made up of soy sauce and vinegar.
Difference in Meat
Humba is particular to pork meat and recipes would usually call for pork belly (liempo) or pork hock (pata). When it comes to pork adobo, you have the option to choose from pork belly (liempo), pork hock (pata), pork shoulder (kasim), or pork ham (pigue).
However, as mentioned earlier, you can be quite versatile when it comes to the choice of meat in adobo. You can make adobong manok (chicken), adobong pusit (squid), adobong itlog (egg), adobong hipon (shrimp), and adobong talong (eggplant), to mention a few. Nowadays, you can virtually cook anything in adobo sauce.
Difference in Ingredients
Image from Market Manila
Adobo, in its most basic form, makes use of the simplest ingredients including soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, onion, black pepper, and bay leaves. You may add some more ingredients like potatoes, eggs, gata (coconut milk), but these are optional.
On the other hand, humba makes use of several other ingredients, even in its basic or traditional recipe. These ingredients are: fermented black beans (tausi), banana blossoms, and pineapple juice. These additional ingredients would point out another key difference between the two: their tastes.
Difference in Taste
As mentioned earlier, the additional basic ingredients of humba means it has a more depth in flavor compared to adobo. The fermented black beans give off a more pungent taste while the pineapple juice gives off sweeter notes than the adobo.
Difference in Region
If you are from Luzon, there is a chance that you haven’t tried or even heard of the pork humba. This is because humba originated from the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines. It’s basically a specialty dish in these regions.
Other Visayas specialty dishes are: Kansi, Binakol, and Inasal.
Humba
Humba or Pork Humba, is a braised dish wherein pork meat is cooked in a special sauce made up soy sauce, vinegar, tausi (fermented/salted black beans), banana blossoms, as well as some aromatics and spices.
It is popular in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. It is considered a basic everyday dish and is served as a viand to white rice.
To learn more about this dish, take a look at this post: Traditional Pork Humba. This article includes an easy to follow recipe, so you can cook it right at the comfort of your home.
Adobo
Pork Adobo or Adobong Baboy is a popular Filipino dish wherein pork meat is cooked or braised in soy sauce and vinegar alongside spices like garlic, onion, peppercorn, and bay leaves.
It is considered the most popular Filipino dish and has grown to a lot of versions and variations in terms of its meat and ingredients.
Still, adobo is an everyday viand to rice or ulam, enjoyed by Filipinos. You can learn more about this dish in this in-depth article: Pork Abobo. It includes an easy no-fail recipe so you can make sure you cook a great tasting adobo every time.
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