Foods

Foodtrip sa Valencia

Pork Humba Bisaya

Humba was made due to the need for the meat to last longer. Humba lasts for several days without spoiling due to the vinegar present and especially if it is immersed in oil. Surprisingly enough, it even tastes better the longer it’s stored.  There are some versions why this dish is called such, some would say that it is from the phrase “HUmot nga BAboy” with the first two letters of the first and the last words joined together. Humot is a word in the Bisayan dialect which could be roughly translated to mean “sweet smelling”, “fragrant”, or “with delicious smell”. Baboy, on the other hand, is Filipino for pork or for a pig (it could be interchangeable depending on the usage). Some argue that it really means “HUmok nga BAboy”, since the meat, due to the way it is cooked, becomes very soft and tender. Humok means “soft” or “tender”.

Ingredients
    2 lbs pork belly
    1 cup Pineapple juice
    1 large onion, diced
    5 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tablespoons salted black beans
    2 tablespoons soy sauce
    2 tablespoons vinegar
    2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
    ½ cup dried banana blossoms
    2 pieces dried bay leaves
    1 teaspoon whole peppercorn

Instructions
    Heat the cooking pot then brown the pork belly
    Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft
    Put-in the soy sauce, peppercorn, bay leaves
    Pour-in the pineapple juice and let boil. Simmer until the pork is tender (add water as needed)
    Add the vinegar and wait for the mixture to re-boil. Simmer for 3 minutes
    Spoon-in the salted black beans and brown sugar then simmer for 5 minutes
    Add the dried banana blossoms and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes
    Transfer to a serving plate and serve. Share and enjoy!