Umami Cooking

Always meaty with a dash of veggies

Pork menudo

A stew of pork, liver, potatoes, raisins, carrots, bell peppers and peas, Filipino menudo is cooked in tomato sauce with lots of onion, garlic, oregano and bay leaves.
Pork menudo
Pork+ Vegetable / fruit recipe

Cook’s notes

Tip #1. Use fatty pork belly. Always. Menudo is terrible unless cooked with a pork cut with a generous amount of fat. And the pork belly has to be browned before anything else. Browned meat and the rendered fat give stew better flavor.
Tip #2. Make store bought tomato sauce or tomato paste a last resort. Either chop fresh tomatoes or use canned tomatoes.
Tip #3. Add broth, not water, if the liquid dries up before the pork is tender.
Tip #4. Omitting the liver is not a good idea. 
Tip #5. As with any stew, pork menudo tastes even better the next day after reheating. To reheat properly, either steam it or use a wide shallow pan set over low heat. Add more broth if the sauce has dried up. And you will likely need to add more salt because most of the saltiness would have been soaked up by the potato and carrot cubes.

Pork menudo

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Modern Filipino
Label: Pork and vegetable stew
Print recipe Subscribe

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 600 grams pork belly with at least 30 per cent fat, cut into one-inch cubes
  • 1 onion peeled and chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
  • 2 sprigs oregano stripped
  • 1 large bay leaf use two if yours are small
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 can diced tomatoes (400 grams / 14 oz)
  • ¼ cup raisins more if you want a sweeter menudo
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid seasoning I use Knorr
  • 2 cups broth vegetable or chicken
  • 1 large potato peeled and cut into half-inch cubes
  • 1 medium carrot peeled and cut into cubes slightly less than half-inch
  • 1 bell pepper deseeded and diced
  • ¼ cup sweet peas
  • 150 grams pork liver (5 oz) cut into half-inch cubes

Instructions

  • Coat the bottom of a cooking pan with the oil and heat.
  • Spread the pork belly cubes on the hot oil and leave until the undersides are just starting to brown. Toss and cook until no pinkness is visible.
    Browning pork belly cubes in pan before sauteeing with garlic, onion, oregano and bay leaf
  • Add the onion, garlic, oregano and bay leaf. Sprinkle in a tablespoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the pork is browned along the edges and the onion pieces appear translucent.
  • Pour in the tomatoes and add the raisins. Stir.
    Adding diced tomatoes, raisins and a little liquid seasoning to pork in pan to cook Filipino pork menudo
  • Pour in the liquid seasoning.
  • Bring to the boil, cover the pan, lower the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes.
  • Check the liquid. If too dry, add a half cup of broth. Taste, add more salt and pepper, if needed, and simmer for another fifteen minnutes.
  • Check the liquid again, add another half cup of broth and adjust the seasonings, if necessary.
  • When the pork is more than halfway done, stir in the potato and carrot cubes. Pour in half cup of broth. Sprinkle in a little more salt. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
    Adding carrot, potato, bell pepper and peas to Filipino pork menudo
  • Stir in the diced bell pepper and peas.
  • Add the pork liver, stir, cover the pan and simmer for another five minutes.
    Adding pork liver to Filipino menudo
  • Give your menudo a final taste before serving. Best with rice or bread.
Print recipe Subscribe

Meaty with a dash of veggies