All good things to those who wait… and I promise this one is worth it! Succulent, juicy pork in a rich, glossy sauce, set off with pops of fresh, charred pineapple. This one pulls out all the stops!
WATCH THIS RECIPE
Pineapple Pork Adobo
PREP TIME
15 minutes + 30 minutes marinating
COOK TIME
2 hour 15 minutes
SERVES
4
Ingredients
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup light soy sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp finely grated ginger
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
800g (1.7 lb) pork belly, skinless, cut into roughly 4cm (1.5”) squares
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 brown onion, halved, sliced
1 long red chilli, finely sliced
4 bay leaves
½ pineapple, skin removed, sliced
¼ cup sliced spring onion (scallions), to serve
Steps
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Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, ginger and half the chopped garlic. Place the pork in a large bowl and pour over the vinegar mixture. Toss to coat. Cover and set aside in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes.
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Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over high heat. Remove pork from the marinade and cook in batches (about 3-4 minutes each side) until golden brown. Reserve the marinade for later. Transfer the pork to a plate and set aside.
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Place the pan back on medium-high heat and add another tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the onions have coloured and are soft. Add the remaining garlic and chilli and cook for another minute. Add the pork, reserved marinade, bay leaves and ¼ cup water. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes.
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Meanwhile, in another pan, add the remaining oil over a medium heat and caramelise the pineapple for 5-6 mins or until there is a golden crust on each chunk (you may need to do this in batches).
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Transfer pork and pineapple pieces to a large bowl or platter.
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Place the sauce over medium-high heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken slightly. Pour sauce over pork and scatter over the spring onion.
Tasty but recipe missing a few steps for someone new to these ingridents
So. I think this is likely because I have never cooked pork belly, but here’s a few of my issues:
I measured my pork belly into the 4cm cubes. When cooked the almost spread and we giant. Much bigger than the photos. When caramelizing, the recommended heat was too hot and it burned quickly because of the marinade. I adjusted the temp for the second batch and got a much better result. It doesn’t suggest size of the pineapple slices. I used a fresh pineapple so I didn’t get the pretty half moon shapes and I felt like the pineapple pieces were too small for the somewhat gigantic pieces of pork, but perhaps using a precored or canned pineapple would be better. I left the seeds in the Chilis as I assume it’s up to the reader to determine spice level, and maybe I just didn’t have the right kind of pepper but I would have liked a bit more heat.
Made it with coconut rice and it was pretty good. Pork belly is only recently become able to be purchased at larger grocery stores here so I might revisit this once I have a bit more practice
Grilled Pineapple Pork - PERFECT
Absolutely delicious! This is so easy to make, fantastic family meal or company. I made coconut rice to go with it and steamed broccoli.
Perfect adobo! Family favourite dish now!
Love this combination, taste amazing together! We double the pineapple as it’s soooo good together every bite!