Pork Pata Humba with Pineapple

Pork humba in a claypot with plate and wooden board underneath.

5 from 1 vote

Pork pata humba braised low and slow in pineapple juice, soy sauce, and tausi. The hocks are parboiled first so the sauce stays clear, then simmered with dried banana blossoms until the skin goes soft and the sauce turns glossy. About 2.5 hours start to finish.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: people

Calories: 695kcal

Author: Rose Sioson

Equipment

1 pot or dutch pan

Ingredients

3 pounds pork hock or pork belly
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup oyster sauce
3 tablespoon cooking oil
6 cloves garlic crushed
1 medium onion diced
3 cups water
20 oz pineapple tidbits with juice
1 piece dried bay leaf
¼ cup brown sugar
1 piece beef cubes
¼ cup fermented black beans
1 tablespoon pepper corns
2 pieces star anise
½ cup banana blossoms

Instructions

Pour water into a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the pork hock (pata). As scums float to the surface, scoop them out with a ladle.
3 pounds pork hock or pork belly
Cover and boil over medium heat for 40-60 minutes until partially tender. Add more water if needed to keep pork submerged. Remove pork and set aside. Discard the water.
In a clean pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sauté garlic and onion until fragrant and onions are translucent.
3 tablespoon cooking oil, 6 cloves garlic, 1 medium onion
Add the parboiled pork pata. Stir and cook for 1 minute to develop a light crust.
3 pounds pork hock or pork belly
Pour in soy sauce, oyster sauce, pineapple juice, water and beef cubes. Let it come to a boil. Add pork cube (if using) and stir.
½ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup oyster sauce, 3 cups water, 20 oz pineapple tidbits with juice, 1 piece beef cubes
Add bay leaves, peppercorns, star anise, dried banana blossoms, and rinsed salted black beans (tausi). Stir gently.
1 piece dried bay leaf, ¼ cup fermented black beans, 1 tbsp pepper corns, ½ cup banana blossoms, 2 pieces star anise
Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces to half and the pork becomes very tender.
Once pork is fork-tender and sauce has reduced, add vinegar and brown sugar. Stir well and cook for 5 more minutes.
½ cup vinegar, ¼ cup brown sugar
Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if needed (remember the sauce gets saltier as it reduces!).
Remove bay leaves. Serve hot over steamed rice, spooning the delicious sauce over everything!

Notes

Rinse the tausi. Salted black beans come packed in brine. Rinse them under cold water before they go in or the sauce will end up too salty to correct, since it only concentrates as it reduces.

Ask the butcher to saw the pata crosswise into serving pieces. A home knife will not get through the leg bone. Look for pieces with the skin on, since that is where most of the gelatin comes from.

Taste at the end, not the middle. What the sauce tastes like at one hour is not what you are serving. Wait until it has thickened before adjusting anything.

If the sauce will not thicken, uncover the pot. Lift the pata out, boil the sauce down until it coats a spoon, then return the meat. No cornstarch needed, the gelatin will do it once the liquid reduces.

Better on day two. The sauce keeps thickening overnight. Chill it and lift off the solid fat layer before reheating for a cleaner, glossier sauce.

Nutrition