Get this easy recipe for Pork Hamonado that has a perfect balance of sweet and savory and with meat so tender, it melts in your mouth.
What is Hamonado?
Pork Hamonado is a Filipino dish that involves cooking the meat in pineapple juice.
It is or was a kind of food that is only served at special occasions like for Christmas or Fiestas. Understandably, not only because most ordinary people from earlier years could not afford to eat pork every day but, also, such rich food should be only eaten occasionally. Â
But nowadays, it's become common to see it on the lunch or dinner tables on any regular day.
What cut of pork to use?
Different kind of pork cuts can be used as long as there is some fat in it. This is because this dish involves slow cooking the meat in the sweetened soy sauce. This process will bring out the pork's flavor.  For this Pork Hamonado recipe, I used pork belly. Other cuts that can be used are pork ham, neck or shoulder.
What I like about this recipe is it is fairly simple and easy. The hardest part, for me at least, was the waiting while the meat is cooking which might take some time to get that tender melt-in-your-mouth meat, but it was definitely worth it!  Â
Some Q&A about cooking this Pork Hamonado Recipe
What pork cuts to use?
I used pork belly for this recipe but Pork knuckles, pork legs (ham), pork shoulder, or any part that has fat attached should be good for this recipe. Cooking time may vary though depending on the toughness of the meat.
What kind of soy sauce to use?
I know that this would not be a question if you are in the Philippines as we only know one kind of soy sauce. The others go by a different name for us (usually we call them by the brand).
In other countries, however, there are different soy sauces in the market and they have different flavors and render different outcomes. If you can find a regular soy sauce from the Philippines, then that would be perfect, otherwise, look for the all-purpose or dark variety.
Sweetened pineapple juice or not?
You can use any of the two actually. But if you are going to use sweetened pineapple juice, skip the sugar first as it may be already too sweet if it is added.
Easy Pork Hamonado
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds Pork belly - cut into 2 inch long and about ¾ inch thick
- 6 cloves garlic - crushed
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons peppercorn
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- salt -if needed
- a dash of ground pepper
Instructions
- Place the pork belly slices in a pot or deep pan.
- Mix all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl until well blended and salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Pour the liquid mixture to the pork belly and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
- Once it starts to boil, lower down the heat to medium-low and cover with a lid then let it simmer for 40-50 minutes or so or until the meat is fork tender.
- Remove the cover and continue to simmer until fat quite literally melts in your mouth. By then, the liquids would have been reduced to a thick sauce.
- Serve while hot with steamed rice.
pacita says
whole recipe please
Madeline says
Hi,
Can this be made ahead and frozen? Thanks.
Bebs says
It will last some days in the fridge without freezing but if you really need to store for longer time then sure you can freeze it.
Xtin says
This is the best pork hamonado I have tried by far! I only have this on special occasion because I eat a lot of rice whenever I have this! 😄
Heather says
This is a homerun. The only suggestion I would make is less water. It took a while to cook down the broth so it was a thick delicious nectar. We served over rice with plantains. Wow! A real crowd pleaser. Will definitely cook it again.
anna says
Hello wonderful ,
can cook this in the instapot? If so, please may I have the directions.
Smiles
Bebs says
Hi Anna, yes you can and I will share it here soon!
Gareth says
I have recently opened my own small restaurant/takeaway in England selling Filipino food and as an englishman who's tasted the cuisine and fell in love with it I am trying to commercialise the recipes to be sold to the english people who haven't tasted the cuisine before. This is no easy feat because english people can be very picky when it comes to trying new things.
Many of the recipes in the Philippines have a very distinct taste and a lot more fat (tastes better) but we live in a world where people are trying to make better and healthier food choices so I'm trying to reduce the salt / fat / sugars in most of the dishes .... HOWEVER .... that being said .....
Hamanado is my FAVOURITE of all the Filipino dishes. It's soft, juicy, sweet, sticky and .... well ... most importantly ... it contains pineapple ... and I love pineapple 🙂
I'm going to give this receipe a whirl as a one-off special in the store later in the month and see how it goes ..... one question I did have though is this.
If I batch cook this and then store it in smaller 1-2 person portions .... when reheating or god forbid "microwaving" ... if I added a little more pineapple juice mixed with a little water .... this would help prevent the meat from scorching (or going hard) on the edges while maintaining the original flavor of when it was stored right?
Something Im gonna try anyway ... and if it ain't answered I will follow up with results later anyway .....
Thanks for your wonderful recipe and I'll be sure to stay tuned for some more tips too .... also ... that orange juice replacement dish .... sounds inviting too 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe! <3
Bebs says
Hi Gareth, I am happy to hear that you love Filipino cuisine and grateful that you are trying to put it out there for your English folks to experience. As for your question, adding fresh (uncooked) pineapple juice diluted in water when reheating, might give the dish a bit of a sour/citrusy taste, unless of course, you let it simmer again, but I think that beats the purpose of preparing it ahead. My suggestion is to make more sauce to simmer the meat in and then take some of the sauce when it is getting thicker and store that to add later when reheating. I hope that helps.
Mari says
Hi, just want to ask once cooked how long can I keep this in the fridge? Thanks
Bebs says
As it is sweet, it should last for a couple of days in the fridge if stored properly.
Shana says
Hi! Can I use orange juice instead? If yes, what adjustments should I make with the other ingredients?
Bebs says
It is not common but I used orange juice for a pork recipe before, Carnitas, and it tastes amazing. Just use it the same way as the pinenapple juice.
Marcy says
Turned out really salty for me. Was able to salvage by taking out the meat, removing half of the sauce, adding 2 more cups of water, another half cup of pineapple juice and some more sugar, then let it boil with the meat. I used Marca Pina soy sauce and golden circle pineapple juice.
Bebs says
Hi Marcy, yes, I noticed the same thing when using this brand. I think their soy sauce is darker (more concentrated) that others.
Dannie says
Hi. It looks delicious and I really wanna try it. When do I put the pineapple chunks? If I put it at the start, will it be too soggy? Thank you.
Bebs says
Hi Dannie, it is in the recipe to add all the rest of ingredients in step 2. It will not only be soggy but almost crushed by the time the meat is tender.
Pearlie says
Discovered this great recipe during quarantine and I’ve been cooking this almost every week. My 7-year old son loves it! The only problem with this is I tend to eat more rice. 😋
Thanks for sharing 😊
Bebs says
LOL! I feel you Pearlie, it is also a problem for us cooking these kinds of food all the time.😉 Really glad that you like it thouh..