Pork Tocino Recipe (Easy & No Artificial Colors!) - Hungry Huy (2024)

Tender, sweet, and rich slices of pork belly and shoulder with a side of savory garlic fried rice and a fried egg—this Filipino porktocinorecipe will satisfy the wildest breakfast cravings you are having.

After trying many, many different porktocinorecipes from local Filipino restaurants, fast food places, home recipes, and even trekking to the Philippines, I’ve found an easy and customizable porktocinorecipe that will give you nice tender pieces of pork bursting with flavor without the harm or unnatural look of nitrites.

What is Filipino tocino?

The word “tocino” is a Spanish term for “bacon,” something I hope all of us are very familiar with. In short, it’s cured pork belly and was originally introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonization. But don’t be fooled because Filipino porktocinois very different from Western bacon made of thin strips of salty pork or salty cubed Spanishtocino.

What makes Filipino porktocinodifferent from other bacon is its red hue, its sweet marinade, and the addition of ingredients like anise, wine and/or annatto. I grew up withtocinobreakfast, otherwise known astocilogortosilog, that was a combination of porktocino,sinangag(garlic fried rice), and a fried egg. This was and still is my favorite breakfast to this day.

Even when I’m eating at local Filipino restaurants likeSaloSaloGrillor shopping at Seafood City, I always get an order oftocinoand rice—how can I say no? At my parents’ house, my mom always had a pack ofPamana’sfrozentocinoready to go.

Recently, I began to experiment about making my own and found that it’s actually super simple! This recipe allows me to customize the sweetness and other flavors oftocinowithout having to eat nitrates (which often is included in frozen or prepackagedtocinoand also gives it the red coloring).

Cuts of pork to use: belly & shoulder

For this recipe, I liked using a combination of half pork belly and half pork shoulder (same as pork butt) pieces to mix and match fattier pieces with some leaner pieces. This gives thetocinovariation, but also doesn’t give me atocinothat is too oily from all the pork fat, or too lean from the pork shoulder. You can easily adjust the amount of either type based on your own preference.

I like to cut the pieces in ¼ inch even slices to make sure all the meat marinades evenly. I’ve experimented with different thickness, but found that this size worked well for me because it wasn’t too thick that it became hard to eat or too thin where it dried out too quickly during cooking.

If you’re not a fan of pork or want a different variety of tocino, you can also use chicken for this tocino recipe. I would recommend using juicy parts like the thigh for marinating.

Tocinomarinade ingredients

This marinade gives me the ability to replicate the tocino I’ve grown up with, but also allows me to focus on more natural ingredients. The basic ingredients for this recipe included white granulated sugar, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, pineapple juice, and annatto powder.

Most of the ingredients in this recipe can be found at your local Asian grocery store. Traditional marinades from store packages typically add nitrates, preservatives, and/or food coloring, which I try to stay away from.

Some packages also include citric acid in the ingredients and to substitute, I used pineapple juice for its acidity and sweetness. I think it really helps with tenderizing the meat too.

The natural coloring ingredient

Annatto powder is an ingredient in many Filipino dishes that give food a hint of peppery spice, but also a reddish hue, likechickeninasalandkarekare. Thistocinorecipe is no different because it gives thetocinoa slightly reddish-brown hue with no artificial food coloring and no nitrates. Yay!

I was able to find annatto powder from my local Seafood City in the spice aisle, but you can also find it in many international aisles too.

Cooking tips

• When cookingtocino, use a pan large enough so that thetocinois flat against the surface in one layer and add just enough water to just about cover the meat. This helped with cooking the meat evenly and helped with reducing the amount of time for braising.
• After the water cooks down, stir the meat constantly and do not leave the pan unattended. The sugars in the marinade caramelize very quickly and you want to watch over thetocinoto prevent burning.

What doestocinotaste like?

Tocinohas a predominantly sweet, garlicky, and slightly peppery taste. Using pork for thistocinorecipe also gives it a fatty and juicy flavor.

What part of the pig istocino?

Tocinois a Spanish term for “bacon,” and is typically associated with the pork belly portion of the pig, but can also be made with pork shoulder or any cut you like.

Istocinoa Filipino food?

Tocinois originally from Spain and introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonization, however, Filipinos have made this dishcompletelytheir own by adding flavors that is a hallmark of Filipino flavors—sweet, garlicky, and peppery pork belly.