Pork Estofado, Turo-Turo Style, Anyone?

Pork estofado, one of my favorite dishes! I miss the sweet-sour taste so that when I chanced upon it at the local carinderia or diner, I ordered for a serving of pork estofado, turo-turo style.

Turo-turo literally means point-point, an ordering system in a self-service eatery where the menu is written on an overhead billboard. You either point to a dish name or point directly to the food of your choice. In this case, pork estofado! ;-)

Wherever you are in the world, it is not difficult to secure the ingredients for this popular Filipino dish. Estofado can be pork or chicken or both.

For a home-coked, family-sized serving of pork estofado, you will need:

• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 head garlic, cloves crushed
• 1 kg boneless pork shoulder, cut into cubes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 carrot, sliced into ½-inch rounds
• 1 cup vinegar
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup corn oil
• 2 pieces French bread, cut into 1-inch squares and fried in oil
• 3 saba (plaintain) bananas, sliced diagonally into 2-inch pieces

You will need about 45 minutes to cook your pork estofado.

• Heat oil in a casserole. Fry the garlic until brown. Remove garlic from pan and set aside.

• Combine sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and water in a mixing bowl. Set aside to allow flavors to blend.

• Pour in remaining oil and heat. Add pork and brown lightly on all sides. Pour in vinegar mixture. Bring to the boil, then lower heat to simmer. (Do not stir, or the vinegar will have a “raw” taste).
  

• Add bay leaf and simmer for about 20 minutes or until pork is almost tender.

• Add the carrot and, 5 minutes later, the bananas. When bananas and carrot are almost tender, about 5 minutes more, stir in pan de sal.
  

• Continue simmering until pork is fully cooked and bananas and carrot are completely tender, about 5 minutes. Garnish with French bread squares.

• You may also add canned pineapple slices.
  

Great when served hot with steaming rice. Enjoy your estofado!