Spicy, herb – y adobong sitaw

The classic adobong sitaw gets more than a superficial facelift with the addition of chili garlic sauce (yes, yes, I am quite addicted to the stuff), egg strips, cilantro and toasted onion bits. Onion bits? Yes, onion bits. Garlic bits are too predictable already. Besides, there’s enough garlic in the adobo. Onion bits add a sweetish flavor to the dish and, combined with the cilantro, it is wonderful.

You can use the usual ground pork or get some bacon-cut pork belly. Not bacon but bacon-cut pork belly. What’s that?

Go to the supermarket and look for the best looking slab of pork belly in the chilled meat section. “Best-looking” means there are mere wisps of fat between generous layers of meat. Ask the butcher if the slab you like is semi-frozen. If it is, ask him to machine-slice it for you — thinly, as thin as bacon slices. That is how to get bacon-cut pork belly.

Serves 6.

300 g. of bacon-cut pork belly, cut into 1-inch wide strips
500 g. of sitaw (long string beans), trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
about 1/4 c. of cane vinegar
about 1/2 c. of dark soy sauce
half a head of garlic, crushed and finely minced
1 onion, finely sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
lots of freshly ground pepper
2 tbsps. of chili garlic sauce
2 eggs, scrambled and fried
a handful of fresh cilantro, sliced
3 tbsps. of cooking oil

Heat the cooking oil. Cook the chopped onion over medium heat until nicely browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

In the remaining oil, pour in the beaten eggs and cook until set. Transfer to a chopping board, roll up and slice as thinly as you can.

In the little oil that remains, add the pork, stirring to separate the pieces. Throw in the garlic and sliced onion. Pour in the vinegar. Add lots of ground pepper. When the mixture boils, stir and cook over high heat until almost dry. Pour in the soy sauce and stir. Add the string beans. Mix well. Lower the heat, cover and simmer until the string beans are done, about 20 minutes (needs occasional stirring). The pork will be done by that time too considering how thinly the meat has been cut. And there’s no need to add water. The water in the string beans is enough to cook everything without scorching. Just remember to keep the heat low.

Turn off the heat, add the chili garlic sauce and stir to blend.

Transfer the cooked adobong sitaw to a serving platter. Top with slices of scrambled eggs, cilantro and toasted onion bits. Serve hot with rice.

For adobong sitaw recipes in the archive, click here and here.