Kriska Cooks: Pork Estofado

It's been a while since I got to update my blog again. My last post was actually 3 weeks ago. -_- I'm just busy with some things lately that I can't even squeeze in a little time to write, but I'm still very glad and thankful that the traffic in my blog did not decrease. I'm even getting offers from advertisers on my blog. Thanks to my recipe posts! And so, here, I'm posting a recipe once again. :D

Pork Estofado is a stewed pork dish which is somewhat comparable to pork adobo and patatim--with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic as the main ingredients--but the use of fried plantains makes this dish distinct. Aside from fried plantains, some recipes also use carrots and pineapple, but I grew up having my dad's version with fried pandesal.

Pork Estofado

Printable Recipe: Pork Estofado

Ingredients:

1 1/2 kilos pork knuckles

1 medium-sized onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pcs dried bay leaves
1 tsp black pepper corns

1 pack dried banana blossoms (about 10g)

8 pcs plantains, cut into 3 parts

oil for frying
water
salt and pepper to taste

8 pcs pandesal, cut into 3 parts, about half an inch thick

2 tbsp vinegar
4 tbsp soy sauce
5 tbsp sugar

Preparation and Cooking Procedures:

Wash the pork using running water. In a pressure cooker with water (just enough to submerge the meat) and a dash of salt, cook the meat for 45 minutes. Be sure to start your timer when the sound of the pressure cooker starts.

Prepare the other ingredients while the meat cooks. See the Ingredients section above.

Fry the plantains in a pan with oil over high heat until both sides are golden brown. Drain and set aside. Do the same with the pandesal.

After 45 minutes, remove the pressure cooker from heat and drain the meat, making sure to keep the stock in a separate container.

Now we're ready to cook the Pork Estofado! :) Using the pressure cooker that we used earlier, pour in cooking oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic until golden brown. Add in the onions and cook until they become translucent.

Add the pork and pour in the vinegar, making sure not to stir. Let it simmer for a few minutes until we can smell the aroma of the vinegar. This way we'll be sure that the vinegar is cooked and we won't have that 'raw' vinegar-y taste.

Pour in the soy sauce and add in the pepper, bay leaves, pepper corns, and sugar. Stir until well incorporated.

Pour in the broth that we set aside earlier. Bring to a boil and then add in the dried banana blossoms and stir.

Bring to a boil until the sauce is reduced. Stir in the fried plantains shortly after.

Top with fried pandesal and remove from heat.

Transfer to a clean serving bowl, serve, and enjoy! This is best eaten with hot steamed rice.

My favorite part of the dish is the fried pandesal. It adds texture to the dish because of that 'crunch'. It also serves as extender as it actually feels like you're eating the pork fat when the pandesal sips all the sauce and becomes a little soggy. Yummy!

Printable Recipe: Pork Estofado

More recipes HERE :)