Delicious Grilled Pork Belly for Pulutan

Sabado (Saturday) night is the best time of the week to unwind. It is the time to be with family and friends – to eat, drink, and be merry. Shrug-off all the stress that accumulated during the past week and prepare for new challenges ahead, recharged.

Whether you are throwing a big party or a simple private get together, it is important to always serve the best pulutan. So, what is the best pulutan? It all depends on you. It can as simple as adobong mani, or something fiery like spicy chicken feet. Some might like grilled squid and chicharon bulaklak.

If you will ask me, the best pulutan (sometimes called finger food, beer food, or appetizer) is always a combination of meat and seafood. For example: baked tahong and grilled liempo (inihaw na liempo). If I want to have the combination in one dish, I’ll make sinuglaw.

Let’s talk about grilled pork belly at the moment. In my opinion, grilled pork belly has always been the favorite pulutan. Why? Simply because it tastes great; it is easy to prepare; and it is readily available everywhere – you can even have it as a main dish.

Adobong Isaw

etting ready for Oktoberfest? Aside from the great tasting beer that you are planning to try, have you though of the perfect “pulutan” (appetizers or beer food) to match your beer with? Sure, there is always the popular Sisig. Sinuglaw and Sizzling Gambas sound good too. If you love something exotic, trying Spicy Chicken Feet, Grilled Isaw, Chicharon Bituka, or Chicharon Bulaklak makes definite sense. The reason why I’m asking is because I have a spicy and tasty “pulutan” recipe here that you ought to try; it is called Adobong Isaw. This recipe is not new nor is it the best selling bar food (some bars in the Philippines serve this); however, the mere simplicity of this recipe makes this special – in my opinion. To those who do not eat innards or exotic foods, please excuse this post. You may want to try the Inihaw na Liempo (Grilled Pork Belly) or Inihaw na Pusit (Grilled Squid) instead.

Kalderetang Kambing

Kalderetang Kambing is goat meat stewed in tomato sauce. The adult goat meat, Chevon, is commonly used for this dish. The meat is sautéed with garlic, onions, and tomatoes then stewed in tomato sauce until it becomes tender.

Preparing goat meat requires some extra procedures compared to beef or pork. Since goat meat is gamey, a common practice to eliminate the odor and gamey flavor is to marinate it in vinegar, salt, and ground black pepper mixture for an hour or two before cooking.

Compared to the other Kaldereta dishes (sometimes spelled as Caldereta), Kalderetang Kambing is considered more special. It is commonly served in special occasions such as town fiestas and birthday parties (usually for grown-ups). It also goes well as an appetizer (pulutan) and is best when beer is around.

Try this Kalderetang Kambing recipe.

Grilled Isaw

Grilled Isaw or Inihaw na Bituka ng Baboy is pig’s large intestine boiled until tender then grilled. This is probably the most sought and most popular street food in the Philippines.

This food goes well with beer or liquor and has earned the reputation of being the best affordable pulutan (appetizer).

Try this Grilled Isaw Recipe.

Tokwa't Baboy

Tokwa’t Baboy is a dish composed of boiled pork (either or both pig’s ears and pork belly usually) and fried tofu. The sauce made of vinegar and soy sauce gives life to this dish. Generally, this is considered as an appetizer and a side dish. Most people like to have their Tokwa’t Baboy with beer or wine by the side while others love to have it with rice porridge such as Arroz Caldo, Goto, or a simple lugaw.

I personally like to have the sweetened version of the sauce. In order to achieve the taste, I just add a few tablespoons of sugar in the vinegar-soy sauce mixture. Also, I sometimes literally sip the sauce as if it is some kind of soup (It may sound weird but I know others who does the same too).

Try this Tokwa’t Baboy Recipe.

Chicharon Bituka

Chicharon Bituka are deep fried pig or cow intestine prepared similar to that of Chicharones or Pork Cracklings (Pork Rinds). This dish is usually served as an appetizer or “pulutan” and is best when accompanied with beer. Another popular chicharon intestine is the Chicharon Bulaklak.

Instead of just having canned tuna mixed with crushed sky flakes (a very easy to prepare pulutan know as dog food) , why don’t you try to make some Chicharon Bituka ? This can be quite time consuming to prepare but this will surely make your barkada and the rest of the drinking buddies happy.

Try this Chicharon Bituka Recipe.