Photo by Victoria Bishop-Smith / SOC Images.
Nothing beats a tender, sweet and sticky piece of pork combined with a gooey egg and a big scoop of savory, garlicky rice—especially during Filipino American History Month.
Tocino is a traditional Filipino dish that consists of sweet cured pork, typically pork belly or shoulder.
It then gets paired with a large helping of sinanag, also known as garlic rice and a fried egg. Combined, the dish is known as tocilog.
The sweet and savory plate is typically served as a breakfast and can be seen on the menu of most Filipino restaurants.
The dish originated in 1967 and was invented by Lolita Hizon, who accidentally created the recipe helping out a neighbor who had to get rid of a large amount of leftover pork.
Nowadays, it’s so popular that a premade version of it is readily available at a variety of Filipino grocery stores.
The simple recipe consists of a combination of pork, brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and annatto to give it a deep red flavor. Food coloring is often used as an alternative to annatto.
The pork is then cured by marinating it for up to three days and cooked to caramelized perfection.
If you’d like to make this recipe for yourself, follow the step below!
Ingredients
- Pork belly or shoulder, cut into thin strips
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Garlic, finely minced
- Pineapple juice
- Annatto or natural red food coloring
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Recipe
- In a medium bowl, combine the pork along with all the ingredients and seasonings.
- Allow to marinate for a few hours or up to 3 days.
- In a medium wok or pan, add oil over low to medium heat.
- Add the pork and the contents of the marinade and allow to cook until caramelized and tender making sure to keep the heat low to not burn the sugar.
- Serve alongside rice and a fried egg.
- Enjoy!
