How To Make Humba, A Filipino Dish

Start off with a pound of pork. Traditionally, pork with a fair bit of fat and skin is used, but a leaner cut is fine. Cut into bite-sized chunks. Put in a pot.

Add in some black beans... a handful or so. These are more for decoration than anything else, I'm informed. I'm going to try substituting some small onions or even apple slices sometime.

Sprinkle the black beans into the pot.

Add soy sauce. Mamma isn't one for measuring... she just poured what was left in this bag. However, I would say it was about a cup. I don't think that the type of soy sauce matters much.

Next is a can of pineapple juice. I'll bet some pineapple chunks would go well in this dish also. You can substitute Sprite for the pineapple juice.

Six bay leaves.

This is Magic Sarap... a chicken base. I would imagine a reasonable substitute would be bullion. Momma put in about twice what you see in her hand right here.

Put the pot on high heat, cover, and let boil for about 30 minutes. Then, remove the cover to let the sauce reduce a bit for another 10 minutes or so. It should then be finished.

What you wind up with is pork chunks in a very tangy sauce that goes well in the traditional "spoonful of rice plus a bit of meat and sauce makes a mouthful" style of eating popular here in The Philippines. When you calculate in the fat and the sodium, this is one of the more sinful dishes you can make for yourself... but it is also one of my favorites.

I'll try to put up some other recipes sometime soon.