Tender and enriched by a brilliantly sweet marinade, Pork Hamonado is a local favorite that really knows how to shine as a dish. This is due to a rich, truly inviting taste that comes from the likes of brown sugar, beef broth, and even pineapple chunks to make it just a bit sour and at…
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By: Vanjo Merano 15 Comments Updated: 4/21/23
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Tender and enriched by a brilliantly sweet marinade, Pork Hamonado is a local favorite that really knows how to shine as a dish. This is due to a rich, truly inviting taste that comes from the likes of brown sugar, beef broth, and even pineapple chunks to make it just a bit sour and at the same time sweet.
Contents hide
Hamonado Versions
Pata Hamonado
Chicken Hamonado
Pinatuyong Pork Hamonado
How to Cook Pork Hamonado
1. Marinating the pork
2. Frying the marinated pork
3. Adding the remaining marinade
4. Sprinkling in some salt and pepper
Pork Hamonado Alternative Ingredients
Pork Hamonado Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition Information
Did you make this?
Another thing most cooks love about this dish is the ease in creating it. All you really have to do is marinate your pork, and then pan-fry. After that, all there is left is simmering just to let all of the flavor of our seasonings seep in nicely. This is definitely a meaty Pinoy dish you will want to indulge in!
In case you need a refresher, hamonado refers to meat dishes marinated in a delicious pineapple sauce. This has become very popular in the Philippines, which has led to numerous appetizing variations. Let me show you a few that you can also cook up!
The thing that I liked most about this Pork Hamonado Recipe is its simplicity. Imagine cooking a great tasting dish in only 3 steps: marinating, pan-frying, and simmering. This dish can easily be prepared even by novice cooks. Another thing that interests me was the taste. I really liked the balance of flavor. I thought that it was magnificent.
Hamonado Versions
Pata Hamonado
Many Filipinos prefer to use pata or pork hock in their dishes for a good reason. This meat cut is filled with flavor, and collaborates perfectly with a variety of flavors. And one of them happens to be the delightful sweetness of the hamonado sauce. This Pata Hamonado, however, presents a bit of a challenge in tenderizing the pork. But I use a pressure cooker to really make sure we achieve the perfect texture for the meat.
Chicken Hamonado
You can actually make use of white meat as well for this kind of dish just to get less fat content. The Chicken Hamonado is also perfect for those who prefer a bit of a milder base in terms of flavor. Our use of chicken for this type of recipe is also great because its more neutral taste gets a great boost from our soy sauce, pineapple tidbits and other components for hamonado. If you really want more depth in the flavor though, I would suggest marinating the chicken overnight, or reducing the sauce by cooking the meat longer with low heat.
Pinatuyong Pork Hamonado
For those of us who prefer their hamonado without the stew, my smokey and absolutely delicious Pinatuyong Pork Hamonado would be the perfect match. This is still coated with our great hamonado sauce so you will not have to miss out on the irresistible sugary flavor. And if you are having trouble imagining the taste, this is pretty similar to Pork Humba.
How to Cook Pork Hamonado
1. Marinating the pork
Combine 2 cups of pineapple juice, 5 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce in a large bowl. Mix these well. Then add your 2 lbs. of pork butt or loin so we can marinate the meat for 1 to 3 hours. Remember that the longer marinating time, the more flavorful this can get. Afterwards, transfer the pork to a different container, and just set the remaining marinade aside as we will use it later.
2. Frying the marinated pork
Put 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, you can place your marinated pork from earlier inside the pan. We will fry this up until the meat becomes light brown, which would likely take 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Adding the remaining marinade
To really utilize the flavor from our rich marinade, we will pour the remaining mixture we set aside a while ago into the pan. Also put 2 cups of pineapple chunks, and 1 cup of beef broth inside. Just let this simmer for 45 to 60 minutes.
4. Sprinkling in some salt and pepper
For our final touch, we will just add as much salt and pepper as preferred. Then put your dish in a serving bowl or container of choice. And make sure to eat this while it is freshly cooked and hot!
Now if you find you are still missing a couple of components for this dish, here are a few substitutes you could use.
Pork Hamonado Alternative Ingredients
Ready with your Pork Hamonado ingredients? Let me show you how to make this famous Filipino dish!
Brown sugar – Utilizing a different ingredient may affect the thickness of our sauce. But a fitting substitute in terms of flavor would be a mix of white sugar with some maple syrup. Both are pretty common components, and so this should be quite easy to whip up at home. But if you do not have maple syrup, you can also achieve that satisfying sweetness just from white sugar.
Pork butt – When it comes to the meat, you can actually pick from a wide variety of ingredients. As I showed you earlier with the many other versions of hamonado, this sauce works great with numerous types of meat. But if you want a similar flavor, you could go for pork shoulder or ham.
Got questions about recreating this Pork Hamonado dish? Just put them in the comments section!
I invite you to try and see this Pork Hamonado Recipe for yourself. Please be the judge and let me know what you think.
You may also want to try our simple pork hamonado recipe.
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag us on Instagram at @panlasangpinoy or hashtag #panlasangpinoy so we can see your creations!
Pork Hamonado Recipe
This is a recipe for Pork Hamonado
Prep: 1 hour hour
Cook: 45 minutes minutes
Total: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes
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5 people
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork butt about 1 kilo
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 2 cups pineapple chunks
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 cup beef broth
Instructions
Mix the pineapple juice, sugar, and soy sauce in a large bowl
Marinate pork with the pineapple juice, sugar, and soy sauce mixture for about 1 to 3 hours
Remove the pork from the marinade and set the remaining mixture aside
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the marinated pork until the meat turns light brown (approximately 3 to 5 minutes)
Pour in the remaining marinade mixture together with the pineapple chunks and beef broth and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes
Add salt and pepper to taste
Serve Hot. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 5g Calories: 480kcal (24%) Carbohydrates: 39g (13%) Protein: 37g (74%) Fat: 20g (31%) Saturated Fat: 4g (20%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Monounsaturated Fat: 10g Trans Fat: 0.1g Cholesterol: 109mg (36%) Sodium: 906mg (38%) Potassium: 920mg (26%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 35g (39%) Vitamin A: 52IU (1%) Vitamin C: 18mg (22%) Calcium: 68mg (7%) Iron: 3mg (17%)
© copyright: Vanjo Merano
