Filipino Tocino

For the marinade, combine all ingredients except the pork. Add pork into marinade. Using your hands (food safety gloves a huge plus) or tongs, mix everything well. You want to coat both sides of the pork. Place in a sealed bag, in the refrigerator, and marinate for 3 days.

After 3 days, remove pork from marinade and place into another bowl. Pork will have absorbed most of the marinade. This is the time to freeze some as it makes a lot. If freezing, place what you need into a sealed bag, seal tightly to remove as much air as possible, and freeze.

To cook, heat a large skillet on medium-low heat. Add about 1 tablespoon of neutral oil. Let that come to temperature, then lay a handful of slices, flat, onto skillet. Let this begin to cook. Remember it is just pork, and you do not want it too chewy. Pork shoulder still has fat on it, hence the slow render in the skillet, and the brown sugar in the marinade will caramelize the fat and the pork. It’s a thing of beauty.

Control your temperature, raising or lowering it gently to cook the tocino until you get nice caramelization and pork cooks through. You should only need ma few minutes or more on each side. If you don’t want to heat up the kitchen in the morning, by all means cook this on the grill. I’ve yet to go that route, but I’m certain the grill would be top notch and add a bit of some smokiness.

Consider eating this the traditional way, with sunny side up eggs and garlic rice (or steamed jasmine rice). This stuff is like bacon. If you want three pieces, you may as well cook seven pieces because you are going to want more and more of it, and when paired with creamy eggs and rice, it takes you away to a wonderful flavor place.