Pork Menudo

This is a reposting from my old kusina.

I have cooked this only twice this time, because I only cook it when . craving hits me. Why? 1 - Hubby is not a big fan of pork. 2 - Hubby does not really care for cubed meat. 3 - Hubby usually leaves out the veggies save for the potatoes. 4 - Kids and hubby leave out the liver (I think they are only grossed out by the thought, but beef liver tastes pretty good compared to pork liver, and especially better than chicken liver. I can only tolerate chicken liver when mashed to thicken sauces and gravy.)

But, I LOVE MENUDO.

So I cook it despite the above-mentioned reasons, then freeze the rest in a foil, then whenever craving kicks in, I reheat the pack in the oven toaster at 450 deg F for about 20 minutes. I can re-freeze the rest and repeat the procedure whenever I want menudo. So if you want, you can do the same, but make sure that you freeze within 2 hours of cooking/reheating.

I marinate my pork pieces overnight prior to cooking, because that was the tip given to me by my sister's MIL (a Kapampangan - I bow to the Kapampangans for most dishes I love to eat during fiesta, of which menudo is one) when I asked her during a fiesta how she made her menudo so tasty. She used soy sauce-kalamansi combi. I made mine now using lemon instead of kalamansi.

My recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound lean pork cut in cubes, marinated overnight in
juice of 1/2 lemon and
1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
3 medium tomatoes, cubed (the more, the better)
1/2 bell pepper (whatever color; tip on what to do with the rest found below)
1/4 cup raisins
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
water as needed

1/2 cup green peas

a handful of cubed beef liver (I have cut into cubes one whole pack of beef liver and placed them in separate plastics by the handful, for such cooking purposes as this)
1 chicken liver, mashed or finely chopped
two hotdogs cut into pieces equivalent in size to the pork pieces
salt and pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:
Heat oil. Sautee garlic for 10 seconds then the onions until transluscent. Add the tomatoes and sautee until they caramelize. Add the pork and stir until browned. Lower the heat and cook covered for 5 minutes.

Add the bell peppers, raisins, potatoes, and carrots, stir and cook covered in another 10 minutes. Add water in increments of 1/8 cup to keep it from drying, if needed. Meanwhile, you can chop the livers and hotdogs while waiting.

Check for doneness of potatoes and carrots. When almost done, add livers. Stir to thicken sauce. You may add more water depending on the consistency you want. Add the hotdogs and let simmer for 2 minutes. Adjust taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with hot plain rice and enjoy!


Tip on storing bell peppers:

One of our problems when buying bell peppers is that we often want two colors at least. I sometimes buy the 3-in-1 pack of yellow, red, and orange bells. But I usually just slice 1/4 of each pepper then use the rest at some point in time later. What I do is slice them longitudinally, layer them on a baking pan, freeze for 30 minutes, then pack into freezer bags. When I need them again, I just shake or bang against the countertop to loosen some pieces and grab some, then return to the freezer the rest. I do the same with fresh ginger (I can't use all in arroz caldo or tinola or chicken curry).