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How To Make Tocino
How To Make Tocino
Tocino is a breakfast dish that is popular in the Philippines. It is made of pork fat, typically coming from
the pig's shoulder, rear, or loin. To make tocino, all you have to do is cure it in a mixture of delicious spices,
refrigerate it for a few days, and then fry it or grill it until it has reached the crunchy, tasty consistency you
desire. (Though "tocino" means bacon in Spanish, we will focus on the Philippine dish here.)
INGREDIENTS
Create the curing mixture. You should mix the table salt, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, onion
powder, and food coloring together until you've thoroughly combined the ingredients. Instead of the food
coloring, you can use a teaspoon of red beet powder if you'd like. Place the ingredients in a bowl so you
can easily rub the pork in the mixture.
For a more tart flavor, you can add 1/2 cup of pineapple juice to the mixture.
Rub the pork in the curing mixture. Press the pork into the curing mixture until you've covered it
thoroughly and evenly. Toss the pork to fully immerse it in the curing mixture.
Refrigerate the pork for three days. Place the pork in a zip-seal bag or a closed plastic container and place
it in the fridge for three days. This will ensure that the pork is fully cured before you cook it. When you
take the pork out of the fridge, don't be disappointed if it doesn't have the bright, vibrant color you
expected; it may look a bit gray and drab, but the colors will come out as you cook it.
Grill the pork. You can also opt to use a grill instead. Here's what you can do to grill
your tocino to perfection:
Simply heat up the grill and place each piece of pork on it for two to three minutes on
each side, just as you would in a frying pan.
When each piece is crunchy and charred, remove it from the grill and you're all done.
Wait for the pork to rest for about five minutes before you serve it.
Grill the pork. You can also opt to use a grill instead. Here's what you can do to grill
your tocino to perfection:
Simply heat up the grill and place each piece of pork on it for two to three minutes on
each side, just as you would in a frying pan.
When each piece is crunchy and charred, remove it from the grill and you're all done.
Wait for the pork to rest for about five minutes before you serve it.
Serve the pork. There are a variety of ways to serve this delicious dish. Though you can enjoy
it on its own, you can also serve it as part of a traditional dish called Tosilog in the Philippines,
which consists of tocino, garlic rice, and fried egg.