Home Made Pork Tocino

Another busy day had past and now time for comfort food. I’m craving for Tocino, It’s been a while since I had it. Tocino is popular breakfast meal in the Philippines. It tastes sweet and commonly served with fried rice and egg. You will normally see this in local hotels menu list. In the Philippines, most local stores sell it but here in the USA, you can only find it in few Asian stores. It is normally packed with "Pampangas Best" brand. Unfortunately Asian store is too far from our place so I don't have any option but to make my own. Good thing I have all the ingredients I needed and I can make my own version of tocino made from my kitchen.

Still I can’t satisfy my cravings that quick but I’m happy that when I opened our freezer, there’s a 1.5 lb frozen pork butt. I had to thaw it and sliced thinly so it will absorb the flavor easily. I found it hard to cut pork when the meat is too soft or completely thawed especially when using a dull knife. It’s much easier when there’s still frozen part on the meat but soft enough to slice it into about 1cm inch thick or maybe thinner than that.

When I finished slicing, I prepared the ingredients and let my daughter help me mix them. This is one way of making memories with my little girl. We spend time together in the kitchen and I let her do stuff she wants to do, of course those that are appropriate to her age and I supervise her. She’s enjoying it and she kept on stirring until I say ummm smells good baby, is it done? Then she would stop and tell me it's done mommy.

Yes, it smells good. Garlic has different aroma especially when it’s minced. Actually, It was the combination of garlic, soy sauce and sugar that makes it smells even better. And this is the flavor that we want pork to absorb.

It will be a while before the flavor completely absorb by the meat so we have to wait and marinate it for about 24hours before cooking. A lot of patience isn’t it? It is alright, it will be paid off. It feels so wonderful when your craving is satisfied.

Here is my own version of home made tocino.

Home Made Pork Tocino (My Version)

Ingredients

1.5 lb thinly sliced pork butt
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp malt vinegar
3 tbsp tropical punch juice (or pineapple juice)
1/2 cup sugar
4 minced garlic gloves

Cooking Instruction

In a large container, combine all ingredients except pork.
Add pork and mix well.
Cover container and refrigerate for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, cook tocino over a medium heat by adding 1 1/2 cups of water.
Let the water boil. It will evaporate after few minutes.
Once water is gone, add 3 tbsp oil and fry for few minutes both sides to stick the sugar on the meat.