This Filipino Pork Menudo Recipe is what I use for special occasions. It is the same recipe that we keep on using year after year for Noche Buena. Since this dish is my favorite, I have tried to make many different versions and this is what I like best.
This time, my eldest daughter, Dianne, helped me cook this dish. She asked me to teach her how to cook this version because she likes it too and she wanted to try cooking this in her college apartment. I am glad that all my kids are interested in cooking. I think that this is one of my accomplishments as a dad, to be able to make my children appreciate the art of cooking and learn how to cook — especially Filipino dishes.
Filipino Pork Menudo has a bit of preparation compared to regular Pinoy pork stews. The potato and carrot needs to be prepared by pan-frying. I also saute the liver in ground ginger to make it less gamey. This is a proven method that can make non-liver fans start to eat it. The actual cooking starts once these ingredients are ready.
There are many ways to cook Pork Menudo. There is the version with ham (which tastes really good too) and there you can also add bell peppers and green peas. While I think that all version are good, I mostly prefer the simple one as long as it is a bit sweet and it has a few slices of red hotdogs.
The raisins in menudo are there for a reason, it provides the right amount of sweetness to the dish. The hotdog, on the other hand, is something that help identify menudo. I think that the taste won’t change without it, but the appearance will. It can be compared to the accessories (borloloy) of our historic jeepneys in the Philippines. The jeep can still do its main functions without the small horses on the hood and the colorful stickers all around it, but it looks incomplete without the bling.
Try this Filipino Pork Menudo Recipe. Let me know what you think.
Filipino Pork Menudo Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. pork shoulder sliced into small cubes
- 1 piece Knorr Pork Cube
- 4 ounces pork liver cubed
- 1 piece baking potato cubed
- 3 pieces hotdogs sliced crosswise into thin pieces
- 1 can tomato sauce 8 oz.
- 1 piece carrot cubed
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 pieces dried bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 piece yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 to 4 cups water
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil gets hot, start to pan fry the potato and carrots. Continue until all sides turns light brown. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining oil (add more if needed). Add the pork liver and then stir fry for 30 seconds. Add ground ginger. Continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Pour 3 tablespoons of cooking oil into a cooking pot. Once the oil turns hot, saute garlic and onion.
- Once the onion becomes soft and translucent, add the pork. Saute until light brown.
- Put the hotdogs into the pot. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour soy sauce, tomato sauce, and water into the pot.
- Add Knorr Pork Cube. Stir.
- Add raisins and dried bay leaves. Stir.Cover the pot and continue to boil between low to medium heat for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the pork is tender.
- Add the pan fried potato and carrots, along with salt and ground black pepper. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a serving plate. Serve.
- Share and enjoy!
Beng says
Taste so good
Vanjo Merano says
Glad you liked it. Thanks for the letting me know.
Lydee Perlas says
I miss my father’s menudo, I’m glad I found this site. It looks good. I’ll try to cook it tonight. Thank you.
Sherill says
Hi! It’s hard to buy pork liver where we live (an hour drive to Asian store). Can I use calf liver instead?
Vanjo Merano says
Hi Sherill, you can use calf (cow’s) liver as an alternative. Enjoy!
Mark says
When do you put the Ground Ginger? (And I do all my Pinoy dishes from your recipes! Keep it up!!!)