Porking It

After a very productive shopping trip, I landed myself a big 6lb pork roast begging me to take it home. I didn’t have to the heart to refuse since it was only $.99/lb! So I decided to make use of it in a two ways. The first way was to make one of my husband’s favorite comfort foods ~ pork adobo.

Adobo is also a term used as the name for a common dish in the Philippines, typically made from pork or chicken or a combination of both. It is slow-cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf and black peppercorns, and often browned in the oven or pan-fried afterwards to get the desirable crisped edges. This dish originates from the northern region of the Philippines.

It is one of the first dishes Filipinos learn to cook as it is simple and requires just a handful of ingredients. In good-tasting adobo, none of the spice flavors dominates but rather the taste is a delicate balance of all the ingredients. As with most dishes, there will be slight variations in the ratios of the ingredients or the cooking process, and the cook’s unique touch is impressed upon the final outcome. Adobo is a very common packed food for Filipino mountaineers and travellers because of its relatively longer shelf-life. This stems from the vinegar content which inhibits the growth of bacteria.
Here’s my recipe for pork adobo:

1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon oil for cooking
1 lb pork, cubed
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water

In pan, saute garlic & onion in oil.
Add pork and brown slightly.
Add remaining ingredients and let cook for 25-30 minutes.

The other way I used the remaining pork was to roast it with a premade rub of citrus grill seasoning. It consists of salt, sugar, lemon peel, ill, garlic, onion, red bell pepper, and a touch of paprika.
I really enjoy using various seasonings in my recipes for added depth of flavor and for the simple convenience of it all. This particular seasoning is wonderful with shrimp and chicken as well.
Here’s my recipe for citrus pork roast:
olive oil
1/4 citrus grill seasoning – or any preferred seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Rub pork roast with olive oil
Coat pork roast with grill seasoning
Bake pork roast in preheated oven to 1.5-2 hours or until internal temp reaches 145-150 degrees.
Allow pork roast to rest and so juices can be redistributed and for residual heat to continue cooking the roast.

I plan on using this roast in a few dishes in the future to really stretch the $6 I paid for it… stay tuned to see how!