TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Cooking with Cecilia: Filipino Barbecue Pork

We've had a heat wave in Southern California, which is perfect weather for barbecuing. My family loves barbecue pork, so I fixed this over the weekend. Here's a recipe. To be honest with you I don't measure ingredients and just add stuff into a huge bowl. For my family of 12, I cooked 10 lbs of pork butt; my men gobbled up most of it.

Ingredients:
1 lb pork (butt or belly, cut into chunks or slices; slices cook faster)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup banana ketchup
6 to 8 cloves, garlic, minced or macerated
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
dash of chili seeds
bay leaf
bamboo sticks
additional banana ketchup for basting

Procedure:
Combine vinegar, soy sauce, banana catsup, garlic, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper, chili, bay leaf, in a large bowl, and stir. This is your marinade for your pork slices. I marinate the pork overnight in the refrigerator, turning it over on occasions so the meat soaks up the marinade.

Before barbecuing I soak the bamboo sticks in water for an hour; this prevents the sticks from burning on the grill.

Skewer the pork in bamboo sticks; don't pack the meat tightly together, but allow it to "breathe" so the meat cooks;

Make your basting sauce from banana ketchup and the marinade. You can add a bit of cooking oil to make your pork glisten and look absolutely yummy - this is a trick I learned from a professional cook.

Preheat grill over medium heat.

Grill the pork and baste as you do so.

If you are preparing a lot, you can pre-cook the skewered pork in the oven and finish off over the grill. This allows for quicker cooking time.

I like to serve barbecue pork with rice, pancit, and salad. Some people like to eat the pork with vinegar. For dessert, serve leche flan - check out my special recipe.

Enjoy!