Comes out with a dark rich tasting sauce. I served it over rice and with
mandarin oranges.
mandarin oranges.
When the Spanish colonized the Philippines
in the late sixteenth and early 17th century, they found a way of
cooking with vinegar that they called adobo, the Spanish word for ‘marinade’.
Halfway between Los Angeles
and Las Vegas, the gambling mecca,
the Barstow Station, in Barstow, Nevada,
is a pit stop with restrooms, souvenir shops and many fast food stalls. I found my way to make adobo from the
owner of a stall that served Filipino food.
I couldn’t remember the name of the place and did a search of the Barstow Station eateries to discover, as
one disappointed customer wrote that “the Filipino place has been replaced by a
Dunkin Donuts.”
I appreciate my ‘slo-ow’ cooker when I prepare this favorite
of mine.
one 2-4 pound pork shoulder or butt
½ cup vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons water
10 cloves garlic, peeled
a handful of bay leaves (about 2 tablespoons)
10 peppercorns
2 tablespoons water
1.
It’s a good idea to brown the
pork. Coat the skillet with olive oil or trim a little fat from the pork and
render (melt) it over low heat. Five
minutes on each side (medium heat) should be adequate.
2.
Put the pork in the slow cooker
with the vinegar, soy, water and
garlic. Tie the bay leaves and
peppercorns in a square of cheesecloth.
Picking out the peppercorns and bay leaves one by one is tedious. Don’t put the bay leaves in the disposal;
they can jam it up.
3.
Cook on high for 4 hours. If the meat is not as tender as you want, reset
the cooker on high for another 1-2 hours, until it is tender to your
satisfaction.
The Gourmet’s Recession Cookbook (99 cents at Amazon)
has a barbecue “pulled” pork recipe and a recipe for ‘forchetta’ (fork), an
Italian version of very tender pork.
