Pork Pochero
Pork Pochero or Puchero is a type of stew originally from Spain. The name comes from the Spanish word “puchero” which means “stewpot”. In Filipino cuisine, puchero (putsero) refers to a dish composed of beef chunks stewed with saba bananas (or plantains). The dish may also include potatoes or sweet potatoes, chorizos de Bilbao, bok choy, leeks, chickpeas, cabbage, and tomato sauce. Other versions replace beef with chicken or pork.
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This is a dish that truly makes me home-sick! With all of the ingredients readily available, you can make this hearty stew in a jiffy. Who wouldn’t want to come home to this tasty pork puchero? What makes it unique from the usual tomato sauce based stews is that it has (Saba) or sometimes called Plantain as part of its main ingredients. It’s simply not pork pochero without it.
It helps to fry the potatoes and bananas so it doesn’t get mushy. This dish is even tastier when a day old. Try this for your Sunday lunch or dinner or even serve it on special occasions and am sure you’ll love this! A recipe worth keeping!
The secret ingredient is always LOVE
Tips for Pork Pochero
- Use ripe saba or plantains.
Pork Pochero
Ingredients
- ½ kilo pork belly (chopped)
- 1 large potato (peeled and cut in wedges)
- 1 medium carrot (peeled and sliced)
- 1 large plantain banana (ripe, sliced)
- 1 bunch bok choy (pechay)
- ½ cabbage
- 1 medium onion (sliced)
- 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
- ¼ cup cooking oil
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 3 cups water
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- ½ tbsp sugar
- 1 cup string beans
Instructions
- Heat ¼ cup cooking oil in cooking pot over medium heat. Fry by batch potatoes, carrots and plantains. Set aside
- Remove some cooking oil and sauté garlic and onions. Put in the pork and cook them until not pink in color. Add fish sauce and stir then simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce and mix until pork is coated. Simmer for 5 minutes then add water. Cover and bring to a boil until meat is tender.
- Add the fried potatoes, string beans, and carrots. Cook until vegetable are soft then taste and adjust if needed or according to preference. Let simmer for 5 minutes then add cabbage.
- When cabbage is cooked. Add the bok choy. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the residual heat cook the bok choy (about 5 minutes).
- Transfer to a serving plate and serve. Bon Appetit!