What Is Adobo Pork Cut + Adobo Recipes To Try

Philippine adobo or simply the adobo has become more popular recently. It’s become so popular that Filipino recipes have breached the international scene on social media platforms, from YouTube to American television morning shows. 

The adobo that they are making however is usually the chicken adobo or the adobong manok version. The pork version or adobong baboy is less known outside the country, yet is just as popular locally as the chicken (We Filipinos do love our pork dishes as the chicken.) In fact, we commonly combine the two kinds of meat in the same dish. We do this despite the difference in the cooking times of these two kinds of meat. Chicken cooks quickly and rarely require tenderizing while the pork is commonly tenderized before it can be served.

However, there is a way to reduce the amount of time that the pork needs to cook to become tender. This is where the kind of pork cut matters. If you go to the butcher and see a display of meat cuts labeled “adobo cut”, these are usually gorgeous cubes of pork that have both fat and meat. 

Adobo cut from the pigue or the kasim is a great combination of pork fat and meat.

Photo by Shutterstock

What is the pork adobo cut?

These cubes are commonly cut from either the pigue or the kasim. The adobo cuts are taken from the parts that include the skin and a layer of fat as well as meat. You can also use other cuts if these are not available. If you use cubes of pork belly or liempo, the layers of fat and meat make it easier to tenderize since the meat layers are thinner. The cuts from the pigue and the kasim take longer to cook yet these are the meatiest cuts you can have. 

The adobo cut is a great pork cut that makes the best-tasting adobo dishes. These cuts create dishes that result in the meat to “mag-mantika“. If you want the cut but it isn’t available, here’s what to ask from your butcher if they do not know it: 

• 1 Choose a whole pork kasim, pork pigue, or pork belly or liempo cut. 
• 2 Request the whole cut be cut into 2-inch cubes that include the skin and fat layer. 

If you want to do this at home, just cut the cubes just like you would instruct the butcher to do it for you. 

Want to make these pork cubes into pork adobo? Here are recipes you need to learn to make: 

1 Pork Adobo Recipe 

A classic adobo recipe is what this is. Whatever cut you use, you can be sure that this recipe will hold steady in terms of flavor. Feel free to increase the amount of vinegar by as much as 1/4 cup more if you like it tangier, or lessen it by that much if you like it saltier so you can taste the soy sauce. 

Pork Adobo Recipe Posted in: Recipe

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

2 Adobong Baboy Na Tuyo Recipe

Not everyone loves their adobo with a sauce or liquid. For those who don’t appreciate the flavor to be in the sauce instead of all in the meat, this is the recipe you need. This recipe allows the meat to absorb all the flavor into itself rather than leaving it in the sauce. If you still want to have something to pour over your rice, you’ll have to scramble for the fond at the bottom of the pot to get the last bits of flavor from this adobo recipe. 

Adobong Baboy Na Tuyo Recipe Posted in: Recipe

Photo by Majoy Siason

3 Adobong Baboy At Patatas Recipe

Adobong baboy recipes are commonly devoid of any vegetables. That’s what makes this recipe so genius! The potatoes are made extra delicious because it too absorbs some of the flavors from the adobo sauce as the meat simmers. This dish just got extra hearty! 

Adobong Baboy at Patatas Recipe Posted in: Recipe

Photo by Majoy Siason

4 Adobong Baboy At Itlog Recipe

You might have seen this often in karinderyas. An egg is a common addition to adobong manok recipes since it’s just natural to pair the chicken with an egg or two. Who said that you can’t do the same for the adobong baboy recipe? The egg adds more heft to an already hearty dish but delivers a different kind of texture to the dish, especially when you get to the creamy yolk. You might want to mash that right into the rice along with some adobo sauce! 

Adobong Baboy at Itlog Recipe Posted in: Recipe

Photo by Majoy Siason

5 Spicy Adobong Baboy Recipe

The simple addition of siling labuyo to the adobong baboy recipe makes it into an instant mouth-watering dish. The heat from the chili is a tantalizing bite that will make you want to have more rice than you might normally eat. 

Spicy Adobong Baboy Recipe Posted in: Recipe

These aren’t just the only pork adobo dishes you can make. Here are more pork adobo ideas to try: 

All The Adobo Recipes You Can Make With Different Kinds Of Vinegar Posted in: Prepping

Use This Secret Formula To Make The Perfect Adobo Recipe Posted in: Cooking

Know the Different Kinds of Adobo in the Philippines Posted in: News + Trends

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