Filipino Street Food - Pork Barbecue by Trissa Lopez

This week, we taste the native cuisine of one of my favorite bloggers, Trissa Lopez!! My enjoyment of Filipino cuisine has been enhanced over the last couple of years through my participation in Kulinarya Cooking Club. The fusion of Spanish and Chinese cuisine is ever intriguing and some of my favorite creations have been inspired by this cuisine like these Chipotle Empanadas, Pancit Bihon and Blood Orange Leche Flan.

Trissa, how do I introduce?! She is a sweetheart and a fabulous cook. Her blog, Trissalicious, is a mouthwatering ode to not only Filipino food, including cherished resipes from her home, but also Australian cooking. Her recreations of famous restaurant dishes, like this and this and oh!!! this, are not just stunning but really make them approachable for the home cook!

I started reading her blog way back and was instantly captivated not just by her awesome recipes but also her writing. Her posts are witty and really offer a break from the daily routine. Never have I not smiled when I opened her blog and then it was quickly followed by an inhalation in awe at her dish of the post!

So, let's get to the food already, shall we?!:-) Ladies and gentlemen, Filipino Pork Barbeque!!
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To Filipinos, street food is nothing new. It's in our DNA and I credit my ability to eat anything from years of exposure to 'delicacies' such as Batchoy (noodle soup with pork liver and intestines), 'balut' (duck embryo) and 'sisig' (sizzling pork head). Of course not all Filipino street food requires a stomach of steel.

Some of my favourite Filipino street food also includes empanadas, squid balls and a variety of sweet rice cakes. The appeal of street food is easy to understand. When people ask me what type of food I miss the most - I don't think of fancy restaurants, I think of the food I can get from the street vendors that stretch along the humid and busy streets of Manila. That makes me think of home.

To me, it's interesting to see how street food has suddenly become popular once again. In the last year or so I've seen a number of books and numerous articles devoted to them. I think the answer lies in the changing eating habits we're seeing of people today. People are busier (they can eat street food on the run) and, post financial crisis, looking for cheaper alternatives to eating out. The appeal is certainly easy to understand.



My good friend Asha has decided to celebrate her third year anniversary in blogging by offering you a smorgasbord of street food from different bloggers in different parts of the world. I am honored to be among those chosen by Asha, especially since this gives me the opportunity to show you one of my favourite street foods from the Philippines.

Filipino Style Pork Barbecue are skewers of either pork or chicken marinated in garlic, soy, sprite (which acts as a meat tenderizer) and banana catsup (which gives it that distinctive reddish hue). These are then grilled until cooked and slightly charred. The food is humble, can be eaten on the run and delicious!



Again, Asha - thank you for giving me the chance to showcase a sample Filipino street food. I hope that your series will encourage your many readers to continue exploring the wonderful and varied world of street food.



Filipino Pork Barbeque

400 g pork fillet, sliced finely into around 1 inch in width and 5 inches in length
500 g pork belly, sliced finely into around 1 inch in width and 5 inches in length

Marinade
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons (30 grams) brown sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) soy sauce
1 cup (250 ml) sprite or 7-up
1/4 cup (60 ml) banana catsup (or regular catsup)
salt and pepper to taste

Soak 20 barbecue sticks in water for an hour to ensure that the sticks do not burn while barbecuing.

Mix all the marinade ingredients along with the strips of pork for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.To skewer the meat, pierce one end of the meat into the pre-soaked barbecue sticks then twist the meat and pierce again.

Continue with the twist and piercing motion on the skewers until all the meat is used up.Fire up the barbecue and cook the meat, basting occasionally until the meat is thoroughly cooked with some nicely charred bits, around 15 minutes.