Did you know that this colorful and flavorful dish that we inherited from the Spanish was in early years actually considered the peasants’ stew in Andalucia, Spain? Well, it is because they used to make this stew with the cheapest cuts of pork, beef, and chicken.
The Filipino Pochero is slightly different from its Spanish counterpart because it has tomato sauce and it. What sets it apart from the other tomato-based stews is the ripe plantain banana that adds a certain sweetness to it.
Ingredients
- 800 grams pork belly cut into cubes
- 2-3 Tablespoon oil
- 2 ripe plantain bananas, each cut into 3 pieces
- 1 small carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 big or 2 medium potatoes, cut into quarters
- 2 gloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoon fish sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup chickpeas (garbanzos), canned
- 2-3 cups (pork) broth or water
- 1 bunch Pak choi, the base cut
Instructions
- Boil pork belly in water until it becomes tender. Separate the meat and broth when ready to cook.
- Heat oil in a deep pan or a pot and fry the potatoes, carrots, and bananas until the edges are slightly browned. Remove from oil and transfer to a plate.
- In the same oil saute garlic, onion, and tomato until limp.
- Add the pork belly cuts and the tomato paste. Season with fish sauce and ground pepper.
- Next, add back the fried potatoes, carrots and banana plantain (saba) and also the chickpeas.
- Pour in the broth/water and let it simmer to cook the potatoes and carrots and until the broth turns into a thicker sauce.
- Lastly, add the pak choi and turn off the heat. Cover the pot for 3 minutes to cook the pak choi.
- Serve hot with rice.
Note:
If the plantain bananas are not sweet enough, add a teaspoon of sugar.
This recipe for Pork Belly Pochero was first posted at Foxy Folksy.
