Tocino with Salted Duck Eggs and Tomato Salad
Tocino is a very popular cured meat in the Philippines as well as other Spanish colonized countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. Tocino came from the same Spanish word which means “bacon”. To prepare this meat traditionally tender cut of meats is sliced into thin strips then cured in a mixture of anise wine, annatto, water, salt and lots of sugar. Usually left in a room temperature for an hour then followed by 3 days of refrigeration to cure. Once the curing process is done the meat is then boiled in small amounts of water until it evaporates then oil is added and finished off by frying it quickly to prevent burning of the sugar.
This dish is typically consumed at breakfast together with fried rice and fried eggs or Salted Duck Eggs with Tomatoes and the whole meal is now called “tocilog”.
Ingredients
800g of pork loin, sliced in 1/4 in thick cuts
3 tbsp anise wine
3 tbsp annatto powder
2 tbsp salt
6 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp baking soda
oil
Method
1. Mix all ingredients in a shallow bowl except for the pork.
2. Sprinkle the mixture into the pork pieces.
3. Leave in a covered container in room temperature for 1 hour
4. Place the container in the refrigerator for at least 3 days.
5. In a heavy pan add enough water to cover half of the pork pieces, bring to a boil then turn once. Once water has evaporated add a small amount of oil and quickly fry pork pieces until sugar has caramelized.
Very interesting, and slight resemblance to char siew. Interesting that the water from the curing process is not discarded but forms part of the glaze
Really delicious. It sounds an interesting thing to eat pork loin. By the way, what’s anise wine? I’m not sure it can be found here.
I remember trying duck and goose eggs when growing up on the farm…wasn’t fond of them (I was a very picky eater back then
. But the cured meat looks great!
Three days of curing? Oh wow! I can only imagine the flavours!
That tomato salad alongside the meal looks delicious as well!
Your blog definitely introduces me to different foods I;ve never heard of and I so appreciate it. Tocino sounds very interesting. I will see if I can find this. Wonderful post.
Wow, I have never heard of this dish. It looks incredible.
weakness ko to and comfort food na rin!!!! Tocino is LOVE!
what is anise wine?
Its a type of liquer, you can find it in supermarkets or liquor shops in Manila, if not you can use something like vodka or gin.
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Hi! I want to ask where can i buy anise wine here in NZ?
Apparently you cant, you can import them from Philippines.
But if you want to make a home made version then you can make something similar by boiling 1 cup water, 2 tbsp anise (not star anise) and 1 tbsp sugar for 5 minutes then keep it for at least 3 days before using. Drain using a fine sieve to separate the soaked anise.