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Filipino Humba

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This is my adaptation of a Filipino favorite. I’ve made this for my mom and a group of Chinese grandmothers that live in my neighborhood. They all approved.

Ready

  • 5lb pork butt (sometimes it says butt/shoulder) try and get one with as much skin as possible
  • a few Tbsp’s of olive oil
  • 2 or 2 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
  • 4 or 5 cups chicken stock (preferably home made but I’ve done it with canned stock)
  • 1 ½ cups soy sauce
  • 6 Tbsp brown sugar
  • whole head of garlic, chopped
  • 3 laurel leaves (bay leaves)
  • a hand full of whole black peppercorns (aprox 3 Tbsp’s)
  • 2 Tbsp dried or 3Tbsp fresh oregano

Set

  • Dutch oven or large roasting pan

Go

  1. Cut the meat into 4-5 pieces
  2. Sear the meat in small amount of olive oil over a high heat
  3. Add 2 parts chicken stock to every 1 part apple cider vinegar ( fill until the meat is ¾ covered).
  4. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, full head of garlic in whole cloves, laurel leaves, black peppercorns and oregano.
  5. Reduce heat and cook uncovered. Should take like 2 hours to cook but you should check every ½ hr and move the pork pieces around. You’ll know it’s done when the sauce get’s sticky and the meat is breaking apart.
Re: Humba

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, Marc.

(I have had the good fortune to eat this wonderful dish, in disbelief that something so simple can taste so wonderful.)

Re: Humba

I made this tonight for dinner and oh my stars was it good! I’d give this recipe 6 stars if I could. It was both easy and mouthwatering delicious.

I made a few simple adjustments.

  1. My butcher didn’t carry pork butt but he did have shoulder.
  2. I cut the shoulder into pieces that were about 4”x4”.
  3. I added an extra tablespoon of brown sugar for good measure.

Early in the cooking process I tasted the sauce and got a little scared. It tasted too vinegary. That’s why I added the extra sugar. But the additional sweetener was unnecessary. As the sauce thickened it mellowed into a delightful flavor.

Divine. I can’t recommend this recipe enough.

Re: Humba

Anyone who likes this recipe should also try John’s Classic Chicken in Vinegar. It is another recipe that takes advantage of the sweet vinegar taste.

Re: Filipino Humba