Humba

I did not grow up with humba.  I discovered it on one of my Filipino recipe research binges and kind of wonder where it's been all my life.  I'm still working on perfecting a recipe.  But with each attempt I get closer to something I can call my own.

Humba is a braised pork belly dish originating from somewhere in the southern Philippines, the Visayas or Mindanao.  It shares a striking resemblance to Chinese braised pork belly, so I wouldn't be surprised that that's its origin.  It also shares similarities with Filipino adobo which is a more prominent dish in the northern Philippines.  What sets humba apart from the these dishes are two things - sugar and fermented black beans.

Traditionally, palm sugar is used.  A common sweetener in south east asian cuisine, it's extracted from the sap of palm trees, date palms, sago or coconut generally.  You'll find it sold as little disks or blocks in asian markets.  But you can also find it granulated (and pricier) at specialty grocery stores or food sections.  It's a brown sugar, so you'll find it light or dark brown in color.  Your regular brown sugar from your everyday market is a fine substitute, however, for any recipe calling for palm sugar.

Fermented black beans are known as tausi in Tagalog or douchi in Chinese.  They are soy beans which have been fermented and salted.  They are not to be confused with the black bean commonly used in South and Central American cuisines.  Used as a seasoning, they are very strong in flavor.  Generally found dried, they need to be soaked in water before using to wash off alot of the salt and soften them back up.  There are, however, moistened ones you can find vacuum packed.  And you can also find black bean paste.


The bean paste is much easier to find than the dried beans.  And so at the moment, that's what I use.  I do hope to be able to find the actual dried beans one day, but no such luck as of yet.  I might have to make a trip to Chinatown for it if I can't find it on my next trip to the Filipino store.  Bean paste is plentiful at the nearby Korean market, but no dried beans, which somewhat boggled me.  But, oh well.  The bean paste is a fine substitute for now.

Though pork belly is the traditional meat, this is the first time I've used it for humba.  And I've made it a few times.  The first time I used belly, it didn't turn out so well.  So I avoided it and simply used other cuts of meat while I perfected the sauce.  Doing this was helpful actually.  I realized what the problem was with the first belly.  Not enough meat.

Pork belly is a fatty cut of meat.  It's the cut used to make bacon.  Everyone's seen a package of bacon.  Those strips are just layers of meat and fat, and depending on the package, some have more fat than meat.  So that's what I had to fix.  I had to find a piece of belly that was simply just meatier.  You'll find pork belly sold skin on or skin off.  If you use the skin on, you'll want to score the skin to allow the fat to flow out while you brown it.  When I make this again, and I will make it again because I need to do it with the dried beans, I'll remember to show how I prep the belly to cook.

This is another easy one pot meal.  I season my pork belly on all sides, then on a low to medium low heat, set the piece skin side down and let it slowly brown and crisp up the surface.  It also allows some of the fat to render out as well.  Once crisp, I'll turn it over and brown the other side.  Then I'll remove it from the pot, drain out the fat, return the pork to the pot and pour the braising liquid over it.  In the braising liquid is the soy bean paste, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, star anise, bay leaf and pepper and enough water to cover the piece of pork three quarters of the way.  Putting the cover over the pot, I then let it simmer for a couple hours until the meat is pull apart tender.  Once there, the pork is removed from the pot.  It's size will have reduced considerably because alot of fat has slowly oozed out during the long braising time.  Then we let the braising liquid continue to reduce until it reaches a desired consistancy of thickness.  This sauce ends up being very pungeunt and rich, caramel sweet and tart.

Slice the pork, lay it on the plate and pour some of the sauce over it.  Serve it with rice and a side of green vegetable.  We used broccoli this time around.  But a braised bok choy or green beans would work great as well. Balance the dish out with a nice veggie crunch.  You could maybe even season the veg with a little garlic and sesame oil.  Though with the rich sauce and equally rich and flavorful piece of pork, I think a simple pure clean veg side is ideal.

Chicken Thighs and Asparagus

Chicken thighs.  I have noticed over the past few years how chicken thighs have become more prolific in grocery stores. They're selling more consistantly in 'family packs' now, including boneless/skinless, and not just during the summer BBQ season.  I don't know about anyone else, but I love me a good chicken thigh.

Chicken breasts have their place.  They have 'less flavor' and so lend themselves more to a variety of cooking methods.  For example, they're far better in chicken salads then a thigh is.  And yes, technically, chicken breasts are less fatty and therefore 'healthier'.  But everything in moderation, as they say.  If you want a reduced fat chicken thigh, take off the skin and trim off the fat.  Voila.  Chicken thighs have a few advantages, in my opinion.  One, they're more flavorful.  Two, they don't dry out as easily.  Juicy chicken, yum.  Yes, partly due to the fat content.  And three, they're cheaper.

Asparagus.  Not cheap.  Cheaper when they're in season, of course.  That season might take place in Mexico in the middle of winter.  But hey, sometimes I really just need to forego my growing locavore principals and take advantage of a really good sale for something that adds healthy variety to my diet.  I am not a saint.

So what to do with a family pack of boneless/skinless chicken thighs and a bunch of asparagus?  First, you look in your fridge and see you have two slices of swiss cheese that need to be used.  So then you take those two pieces of swiss cheese, cut them in half then lay those with some cut asparagus spears in an open chicken thigh.  Wrap that thigh around the cheese and asparagus then tie with butcher's twine into a neat little bundle.  Brown them in a little oil in a saute pan then toss them in the oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. 

When finished roasting, serve with rice.  I eat pretty simple at home really.  At least, I think I do.  And most meals get served with steamed rice.  It's my Asian heritage.  Rice goes with anything.  Except maybe pizza.  And I suppose sandwiches.  This little bundle of joy could probably look better with a sauce.  That's my restaurant teaching kicking in.  Everything could always use a sauce to make it look better and be richer.  But for a simple meal at home the thigh is, as I said, a nice, juicy piece of meat and a sauce unnecessary.

What else can you do with chicken thighs and asparagus?  Adobo!  Well, at least with the chicken thighs.  The asparagus just makes a very nice veggie side to balance out the meal.

Adobo, in the Philippines, is basically any meat simmered in a vinegar based marinade.  You'll get arguments from various Filipinos what exactly goes in the marinade.  But that's no different really than asking people what they put in their BBQ sauce.  The primary flavoring ingredient is vinegar.  It provides sour and tart, something which is a key flavor in many Filipino dishes.  If it isn't vinegar that adds that flavor to a dish it may be citrus juice or tamarind or fermentation.

But as I said, vinegar is what makes a Filipino adobo a Filipino adobo.  The marinade for the adobo I grew up with is mostly vinegar with a bit of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar, bay leaf and peppercorn.  You can have the meat sit in the marinade overnight or a few hours.  Or you can cook it right away if your needing a last minute meal.  It's a really flexible dish.  And easy to cook.  Toss all your marinade and chicken in a stew pot and turn on some medium heat.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through and the marinade has reduced into a dark coating sauce.

I admit, I take a little bit of my training into concern when I cook this now.  I usually heat up the pot and then brown the marinaded chicken on both sides first, then pour the marinade over it to finish off stewing.  Adds a bit of a prettier color to the finished product.  If I do it with chicken that has it's skin on, I'll usually drain off the extra fat that renders off when browning before I add the marinade to the pot.  I've read where some will do the opposite.  Stew it in the marinade and then take the chicken pieces and brown them afterwards.

Whichever way, whether you just toss it all in the pot or take that extra step for a little extra color, what you end up with is what is considered by many the quintessential Filipino dish.  And a dish which plays on all the different flavors a tongue can experience, sour, salty, sweet, spicy and umami.  Oh yeah! Umami!