Homemade Pork Tocino

Pork Tocino is a hearty Filipino all-day breakfast served with sunny-side-up eggs and garlic fried rice. Sweet and garlicky, it's sure to be a family favorite.

Different regions of the Philippines are known for various specialties, and we, Kapampangans, are known for the best pork tocino, tapa, and longganisa.

Pork tocino is Filipino cured meat made of beef, chicken, or pork. It's typically served as an all-day breakfast meal as part of a combo called tocilog, a portmanteau for tocino, sinangag (garlic fried rice), and itlog (sunny-side-up eggs).

This regional delicacy has evolved to be a delicious balance of sweet and salty, but traditional Kapampangan burong (cured) babi (pork), as I remember it, is fermented at room temperature to achieve a slightly sour taste. For food safety, I highly recommend curing the meat in the refrigerator for no more than three days and storing it in the freezer immediately after.

It's so easy to make at home; you'll never have to buy it again! I suggest marinating a few pounds and freezing it for future use. Portion out in individual resealable bags, and you'll have a delicious meal ready in a pinch.

Marinade ingredients

Traditional pork tocino included salitre (saltpeter), a food preservative and colorant. The recipe below, however, uses basic pantry ingredients and has no added preservatives.

The marinade is a simple mixture of salt, sugar, garlic powder, and pepper to bring on the sweet and garlicky flavors you'll love. The red food coloring is for aesthetic purposes only and can be omitted.

Ways to cook

• Stovetop- you can pan-fry straight in hot oil, but I suggest cooking the tocino first in water until fork-tender. Add enough water to cover the meat and simmer until the meat is tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed. Add oil and cook, stirring regularly, until lightly browned and caramelized.
• Grill- instead of pan-frying, you can cook the meat over hot coals or on a tabletop grill for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through and nicely charred.
• Oven- to bake, arrange the marinated meat in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 F oven for about 30 to 40 minutes or until browned and a thermometer inserted in the center of the meat reads 145 F. Turn the meat halfway through cooking and loosely tent with foil if over-browning before fully cooked.

How to store

• Cooked- transfer leftovers to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Warm up in the microwave at 2 to 3-minute intervals until thoroughly heated.
• Uncooked- store in a resealable bag or airtight container. Keep refrigerated and cook within 3 days. For more extended storage, transfer to a freezer-safe container or resealable bag and freeze for up to 3 months. There's no need to defrost to cook.