How to Make Tocino

Filipino Tocino is a sweet pork dish that is traditionally served for breakfast in the Philippines. “Tocino” is a Spanish word that means ‘bacon’ or ‘cured meat’ and comes from back in the days of Spanish settlement of the Philippines.

To make it, Filipino recipes call for using pork pigue or kasim…which is just regular ham shoulder that’s been sliced to a 1/4 inch thickness. This part is what makes it different…the spicing and curing of the meat. Various recipes have a whole slew of ingredients for this but basically its saltpeter, pepper, regular salt, garlic, sugar, and some anise wine. The individual slices are then treated with this mixture and placed on top of each other in a container, preferably refrigerated. At the end of 3 days or so, what remains is the kimchi of pork. The reddish color is from the saltpeter and often makes it look like beef.

Preparing it is nothing more than lightly frying it until it caramelizes on the edges. Common serving will include egg and rice on the dish as well. Tocino is quite tasty if one likes sweetly coated meats similar to many asian ’sweet & sour’ dishes.

Estimated cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Pork Tocino Ingredients:

* Pinoy Tosilog 2 lbs. of pork/pork chops or red loin with fat, sliced into 1/4 inch thick
* 2 tablespoons of anise wine
* 2 tablespoon of annatto water
* 2 tablespoon of salt cooking oil
* 4 tablespoon of sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon of salitre ( saltpeter )

Pork Tocino Preparation Cooking Instructions:

* Combine all the ingredients in a shallow pan except for the pork.
* Sprinkle the mixture onto the pork and make sure that it is distributed evenly.
* Pile the pork inside a container with a cover and keep refrigerated for about 3 days to cure the pork.
* To cook, just put a little water in a skillet and add the pork and fry it until done.

How to Make Chicken Tocino

Ingredients:
Chicken breast or drumstick – 1000 grams

Extenders:

Dissolve 1 tsp carageenan in ¼ cup water

Curing Mix:
– Salt, refined – 1 Tablespoon or 12.00 grams
– Curing salt – ½ teaspoon or 2.00 grams
– Phosphate – 1 teaspoon or 5.00 grams[dissolved in ¼ cup water] – Vitamin C powder – ¼ teaspoon or 1.00 gram

Seasonings:
– Sugar, refined – 9-12 Tablespoon or 90.00-120.00 grams
– Garlic, chopped or – 2 Tablespoon or 22.00 grams
– Garlic powder – 2 teaspoon or 10.00 grams
– Anisado wine – 2 Tablespoon or 16.00 grams
– Pineapple juice – ¼ cup 0r 60.00 grams
– Vetsin {MSG] – ½ teaspoon or 2.00 grams
– Food color [allura red] * – 1-2 teaspoon
– Meat enhancer – ½ teaspoon or 2.00 grams

* Dissolve 1 tsp allura red powder in ¼ cup water [stock solution of food color].

Procedure:

1. Select good quality raw materials.
2. Prepare curing mix, extenders and seasonings
3. Mix meat with the curing mix until it dries up and add the carageenan with ¼ cup water. Mix again and add seasonings.
4. Cure at room temperature for 8-10 hours or in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
5. Pack in styrofoam with cling wrap or in polyethylene plastic bag and put in the freezer.

Yield: 1.0 kg = 1.3 kgs

Source: pinoyrecipe.net, da.gov.ph (Alice A. Laput, Animal Products and By-products Utilization Unit)

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