Margarita's International Recipes

The Philippines

Pork Menudo The best stew I've ever eaten was a pork menudo served as part of the lunch buffet at Zen's Cafe, a local Filipino eatery. It was the richest, most delicious stew ever. My own attempts are recreating it did not make it justice, but the recipe below did result in a tasty, homey stew. I made a couple of modifications from the original recipe. I left out the liver and I increased cooking time towards the end (necessary). I served this with rice. You can find a version of this stew, by the way, throughout Latin America. This Filipino version uses pork instead of beef and adds soy sauce (a smart move), but the basic elements are the same. By the way, my favorite version of this stew is still the Cuban carne con papas. Pork Menudo Ingredients 2 lbs pork loin, cubed 1/2 cup soy sauce + more for seasoning 1 tsp. black pepper 2 Tbsp. oil 1 onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 celery stalks, diced 1 15oz can tomato sauce 1 potato, diced 1 carrot, diced 3 hot dogs, sliced 1/4 cup raisins sugar to taste Instructions Mix the pork loin with the soy sauce and black pepper and marinate for one hour. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft. Add the pork and celery and saute until all the liquid evaporates. Add the tomato sauce, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced potato and carrot and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside. Add the hot dogs, raisins, potato and carrot to the pork. Simmer for 10 more minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Taste and add sugar and additional soy sauce if needed. Adapted from this recipe at My Filipino Recipes.com Filipino Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail