Humba

If you know a bit of the Filipino cuisine then definitely you might have encountered the most popular Filipino dish Adobo. Now what does that have to do with our recipe today? Well if you look at it don’t you notice they looks similar? This is because this dish called Humba is a close relative to it as the ingredients and the cooking techniques are nearly the same apart from some additional ingredients such as black beans, banana blossoms and sometimes boiled eggs.

Many consider this as the Adobo version of the Visayan region and it is popular within the Visayan provinces and nearby locations. The name Humba not surprisingly is made out from Visayan words but there are two theories on where exactly it came. First from the words “Humot nga Baboy” which literally means “Fragrant Pork” and the other one from “Humok nga Baboy” which means “Soft Pork”. Indeed it is both fragrant and soft why not just call it HuHumBa for “”Humot Humok nga Baboy”

Like adobo this recipe has been created very long time ago with the same purpose, to make it last longer as refrigeration during the old days was non-existent. The vinegar and oil acts as the preservative and similarly enough like adobo the longer this dish is stored the better it tastes. Having said that my suggestion is that if you make this at home try to do it 2 days ahead of time so the flavour develops.

Humba

★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews

• Author: Raymund
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Filipino

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Ingredients

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• 1 kilo shoulder or belly, cut into cubes
• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 cup banana blossoms
• 4 tbsp salted black beans
• 2/3 cup cane vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups water
• 4 pcs bay leaves
• 3 pcs star anise
• 1 whole garlic, minced
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• oil

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Instructions

1. In a pot add oil and using medium heat sauté garlic until it becomes golden brown. Remove garlic form the pot then set aside.
2. Add pork pieces and brown on all sides.
3. Add water, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, star anise, browned garlic and bay leaf then bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add the banana blossoms and salted black beans then simmer for 30 more minutes or until pork is tender. Add more water if required but the final consistency should be thick.
5. Add hard boiled eggs, season with freshly ground black pepper then simmer for additional 5 minutes.

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