Filipino Food - Paksiw na Pata Recipe (Quick and Easy)

Hi! This is Raymund and I hope you are having an amazing day! Let me start this food blog with a recipe of my most favorite dish in the world: Paksiw na Pata. We cook it a little differently from the traditional way because we don't like to put garlic in it.

Paksiw na Pata is pork leg cooked in vinegar and soy sauce. “Paksiw” in Filipino usually means cooking in vinegar and garlic. This dish is kind of a modified version with less garlic, or sometimes without. It balances the sweet, salty, and sour flavors. A very simple dish, it is quite similar to Pork Adobo.

As I've said, this is my most favorite dish of all time. It's so simple to prepare and there are not too many ingredients to begin with. The secret of a great Paksiw na Pata is to tenderize the meat, so we tend to put the pork in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes at the most. You don't have to do it, though, as long as you cook the port sufficiently.

We also love to make it more soupy. I love how the pork fat melts in my mouth with every bite. The taste and aroma of the porky broth always excites not only my taste buds but my nose as well.

Warning: If you have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, you may want to eat this moderately. Or better yet, not eat it at all. :)

Photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/simplegastronomy/

Paksiw na Pata Recipe (for 4 persons)

Ingredients

• 1 kilo pork leg (pata), sliced
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 4 cups water
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 pcs. bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns 
• 100 grams dried banana blossoms
• salt
• pork broth cubes (optional)

Directions

• Pour the water in a pot and bring to a boil
• Add the whole pepper corns and bay leaves
• Add the soy sauce and vinegar then wait for it to boil again
• Add pork broth cubes (optional)
• Add the port and simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours (or cook in pressure cooker for 30 minutes, which is our typical choice)
• Add the banana blossoms and simmer for around 5 to 7 minutes
• Add the brown sugar and salt and simmer for 2 minutes
• Serve while hot and enjoy!

This dish usually makes me eat more rice because of all its strong flavors. If you are looking to cut down your rice intake, then you will have a hard time holding back on this one. :)

Till the next recipe! Enjoy!