How to Make Tocino

Tocino is a beloved Filipino breakfast dish, often made with pork shoulder, pork belly, or pork loin. To prepare this, simply marinate the meat with a mix of spices, refrigerate for a few days, and then fry or grill until the meat is crispy and flavorful as desired. (Though "tocino" means bacon in Spanish, here we focus on the Filipino dish.)

• Preparation time: 3 days (active time: 30-60 minutes)
• Cooking time: 20 minutes
• Total time: 3 days (including marination)

• 1 kg pork loin or shoulder
• 2 tablespoons salt
• ½ cup vinegar
• ½ - 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon food coloring (optional)

Slice the meat into thin pieces. Cut the pork shoulder or pork loin into slices about 0.6 cm thick. If you prefer thinner slices, aim for around 0.3 cm. Be sure to remove any bones. For easier slicing, you can place the meat in the freezer for a while to firm it up before cutting.

Mix the marinade ingredients. Combine salt, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, onion powder, and food coloring in a bowl, ensuring everything is well blended. If you'd like, you can use beet powder as a substitute for food coloring. Mixing these ingredients in a bowl makes it easier to marinate the meat.

• If you prefer a tangier flavor, you can add ½ cup of pineapple juice to the mixture.

Toss the meat in the marinade. Make sure each piece of meat is fully coated with the marinade. Press the meat down so it’s completely submerged in the marinade.

Let the marinated meat sit in the fridge for 3 days. Place the marinated meat in a sealed plastic bag or an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for 3 days. This step ensures that the meat absorbs the flavors before cooking. When you remove the meat from the fridge, don't be discouraged if it doesn't look as colorful as you'd hoped. It might appear slightly gray, but it will develop a beautiful color once cooked.

Fry the meat in a pan. Here's how to fry the marinated meat:

• Place the marinated meat in a pan with a little oil.
• Heat the oil over medium heat and fry each piece of meat for 2-3 minutes on each side, just like cooking bacon. Continue frying until the meat turns a golden brown color.
• Once each piece is done, place it on a plate and continue frying the rest of the meat.
• You can also put the cooked meat on a paper towel to absorb extra oil.
• If you want a more Caribbean flavor, cut the meat into small square pieces and fry until crispy. Serve it with white rice, just like the traditional dish arroz blanco con tocino, meaning "white rice with tocino."

Grill the meat. You can also grill the meat instead of frying it. Here's how to grill the perfect tocino:

• Preheat the grill and place each piece of meat on it, grilling for 2-3 minutes on each side, similar to frying in a pan.
• Once each piece becomes crispy and browned, remove it from the grill, and you're done.
• Allow the meat to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve the dish. There are many ways to serve this delicious meal. While tocino can be enjoyed on its own, you can also serve it as part of the traditional Filipino dish called Tosilog, which includes tocino, garlic rice, and a fried egg.

• Frying pan
• Strainer
• A covered mixing bowl or any suitable container for marinating the meat.