Hamonado

Majority in our family decided to give up rice as a sacrifice starting Ash wednesday until Black Saturday. It is quite a challenge because being Filipino meant eating rice for breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner. Choosing this as a sacrifice pushed me to becoming more adventurous in cooking. One of my target is to cook Hamonado.

I remember eating hamonado during special occassions only. For me it is very similar to Fiesta Ham we always have during christmas. The only difference is that hamonado doesn't have the smoked taste. It was actually the last minute when I decided to try cooking this dish. I had all the ingredients so I gave it a try.

I will be completely honest. I usually cheat when I cook. I use Mama Sita mixes when necessary. With this dish, I used the Tocino Marinade for the meat. Since I only had 3 hours to prepare and cook this dish, I needed to come up with a plan to make this work. For those who are abroad, I think this is the best way to cook this dish easy and fast.

The first step is to marinate the meat. I used pork butt. I love this part of the meat because there is fat in between the meat which will make your hamonado tender and juicy. I marinated the meat with salt and pepper plus the Tocino Mix for an hour. Since I was in a rush, I combined the meat with 2 cans of pineapple, soysauce, and a cup of brown sugar then boiled the marinade and meat for an hour. While waiting I preheated the oven at 450 degrees. After boiling for an hour,remove the meat and pineapply slices and put in a roasting pan. Continue simmering the marinade until thick. You can add cornstarch diluted in water to thicken the sauce. Once it's done, pour the sauce on the meat then put in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes until the meat starts to brown.

Here is the finished product. It is easy , fast and super delish! Enjoy!