How to Make Tocino (Filipino Cured Sweet Pork) at Home (Tocino Recipe) (2024)

A favorite Filipino breakfast is tocino, cured sweet pork. And it couldn’t be easier to make at home. The hardest part is waiting for it to marinate to get all the yummy flavors.

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I am from Silay City,Negros Occidental.

Negros is the sugarcapital of the Philippines.

Therefore, I have asweet tooth.

And one of my favoritebreakfast meats is tocino.

Tocino is marinated, thinly sliced pork strips. It normally comes in a nauseating red (caused by using saltpeter as a preservative) and is super sweet.

Growing up, we would only buy Pampanga tocino, as we trust that they are marinated to our liking.

So, when I moved abroad, of course, I had to figure out how to make this on my own.

After a few years out of Negros, my tolerance for super sweet items has decreased! Imagine that. But I am not complaining, as that is healthier.

Therefore, I have to experiment with my tocino recipe.

TOCINO EXPERIMENTS

I have made tocino with only sugar and salt.

With all white sugar. Then, with all brown sugar. Brown and white sugar, mixed.

With vinegar.

To use food coloring or no food coloring…

I have also gone through kilos of pork.

Then I found Foxy Folksy’s recipe online.

PAMPANGA TOCINO ADAPTED TO MY ILONGGO TASTE

As she is Kapampangan,I was excited to try it.

Her recipe calls for abit of pineapple juice (optional, but it gives the flavor that I like and alsoacts as a tenderizer).

However, I don’tusually have pineapple juice at home. We don’t drink a lot of juice and I amreluctant to buy and let the rest expire in the fridge. We are after all tryingto lessen our food waste at home.

So, I experimentedwith substitutions until I found that apple cider vinegar worked well.

But if you havepineapple juice on hand, use that instead of apple cider vinegar. Or reduce theapple cider vinegar to 1 tbsp and add 2 tbsp pineapple juice. I enjoy theadditional sourness the apple cider vinegar adds.

The hardest part about making tocino is slicing the pork. To facilitate that, freeze your pork for at least 30 minutes to harden and slice thinly (around ¼ cm) with a very sharp knife.

Then, mix all yourmarinade ingredients in a bowl, add in the pork and massage with your fingers. Ifyou have added some annatto powder or red food coloring, I highlysuggest you wear gloves.

I usually massage itfor around 5 minutes, then call it the day. If you have the patience andstamina, try massaging for longer to tenderize the meat.

Then, transfer to aglass container, cover, and refrigerate at least overnight to let the marinadedo its work.

I then like to portionit out into 100 grams helpings and freeze.

HOW TO FRY THE TOCINO

If I had the foresightto thaw the tocino, I fry the pork pieces directly in a hot frying pan with alittle bit of oil. I like using a nonstick pan for this as the melted sugarsticks like hell.

If I wasn’t able tothaw the tocino, I place the frozen tocino in a frying pan, add ½ cup of waterand cover. Bring the water to a boil, then uncover and separate the tocinopieces.

Let the water evaporate and after add a tablespoon of oil if needed.

Fry to your desireddoneness.

Serve, preferably with rice, an egg, and chopped tomatoes.

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If you like Pork Tocino, you might like these other Filipino breakfasts too:

Beef Tapa

Chorizo Pudpud

Champorado

Pandesal

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