Cook’s notes
In July of 2025, I sent out a newsletter asking if you add sugar to your adobo. I do to cut down on the acidity.
But while sugar is the most convenient ingredient to do that job, there are plenty of other ways to sweeten adobo. Adding fresh pineapple, sweet peanut butter or coconut milk / cream are only some delightful additions to balance the acidity of adobo.
Today, I add another option. Lechon sauce. I have apparently done this some ten years ago because I unearthed photos from my external drive. They never got published because the lighting was terrible. The dish itself, however, was just superb.
For non-Filipino readers, lechon sauce in the Philippines is a sweet sour sauce (more sweet than sour, actually) made with soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, spices and mashed pork liver. Don’t worry, the liver is invisible.
So, here is the recipe for that dish from long ago with much better photos.
Pork adobo with lechon sauce
Equipment
- Slow cooker
Ingredients
- 500 grams pork belly (1.1 pounds)
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 6 cloves garlic lightly pounded and peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig oregano stripped
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
- ¼ cup cane vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 cup bone broth (chicken or pork) you may use water but the adobo won’t be as flavorful
- ½ cup lechon sauce (available in groceries)
- thinly sliced scallions
- fried garlic to garnish
- rice to serve
Instructions
- Cut the pork into two-inch pieces.
- Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan and brown the pork cubes in batches.
- Place the browned pork in the slow cooker and add the garlic, bay leaves, oregano and pepper.
- Mix together the soy sauce and vinegar, and pour over the pork and spices.
- Pour in the broth.
- Set the slow cooker on LOW and let the pork adobo cook for four hours.
- Transfer the adobo to a wide shallow pan and set on the stove over medium heat. Boil gently until the sauce is reduced to less than half a cup.
- Pour in the lechon sauce, stir and continue cooking until the sauces have blended and thickened.
- Sprinkle the adobo with fried garlic and sliced scallions before serving with rice.
Tilapia escabeche