Tocino Recipe

Name: Tocino
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 8 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 600 g pork shoulder, sliced 5 mm thick; 4 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tbsp salt; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 100 ml pineapple juice; 1 tbsp soy sauce; ½ tsp ground black pepper; 100 ml water; 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Tocino

Thin slices of pork cured overnight in a sweet, salty and slightly sour pineapple marinade, then pan-cooked until caramelised.

30 min prep and cooking plus 8 hr Curing overnight 8 hr 30 min start to finish Serves 4 servings Easy

The Case for Tocino

Overnight is the instruction that matters. Tocino is a cure as much as a marinade, and the sugar and salt need hours to work into the pork. Slices cooked after 30 minutes taste of sugar on the surface; slices left overnight taste sweet, savoury and slightly tangy all the way through.

Use pork shoulder, sliced thin, about 5 mm thick. If you ask a butcher, ask for it sliced for hot pot or bacon-thin. At home, freeze the shoulder for 30 minutes and slice with a sharp knife. The marinade is brown sugar, salt, garlic, pineapple juice, a little soy sauce and pepper. A pinch of curing salt gives the traditional red colour, but it is optional and the pork is still delicious without it.

Cook it in a pan with a little oil over medium heat. The sugar caramelises quickly and will blacken if the pan is too hot.

The cooking is two-stage: simmer the slices with a little water first for 8 minutes, so the pork cooks through, and let the water evaporate. Then fry in the leftover oil and marinade for 6 minutes until glossy and darkened at the edges. Serve with garlic rice.

What Goes With It

Garlic rice
Fried egg
Spiced vinegar
Sliced tomato

Making Tocino, Step by Step

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Mix the sugar, salt, garlic, pineapple juice, soy sauce and pepper. Add the pork, coat well, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Put the pork and marinade in a wide pan with the water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes, until most of the liquid has gone.
Add the oil and fry for 6 minutes, turning, until glossy and caramelised at the edges.

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Notes From the Method

Slice the pork thin and evenly.

Watch the pan once the water has gone; the sugar burns quickly.

Freeze the marinated pork in portions for easy breakfasts.

Ingredient Swaps

An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Keeping What's Left

The marinated pork keeps in the fridge for 2 days or freezes for 1 month. Cooked tocino keeps for 2 days.

Common Questions

How long does Tocino take to make?

10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 8 hours of Curing overnight, so allow 8 hours 30 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

386Calories

29gProtein

18gCarbs

22gFat

1gFibre

16gSugar

2090mgSodium

Dairy-Free Low-Carb

Tocino

What Goes With It

Making Tocino, Step by Step

Notes From the Method

Ingredient Swaps

Keeping What's Left

Common Questions

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

What Goes With It

Making Tocino, Step by Step

Notes From the Method

Ingredient Swaps

Keeping What's Left

Common Questions

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

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