Tocino (Filipino-Style Grilled Cured Pork) Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated August 09, 2018
20120605-209357-tocino.jpg
Photographs: Joshua Bousel

There isn't much to Filipino-style tocino—just thinly sliced pork shoulder cured in salt and sugar for a few days—but the sweet, chewy Filipino breakfast meat that results is amazing, especially when paired with some garlic fried rice and egg.

Recipe Details

Tocino (Filipino-Style Grilled Cured Pork) Recipe

Active 45 mins
Total 0 mins
Serves 6 to 8 servings
Makes 2 pounds

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar

  • 1/3 cup white sugar

  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt

  • 2 teaspoons annatto powder

  • 1 teaspoon Anisette

  • 1/4 teaspoon pink salt (aka InstaCure, Prague Powder)

  • 2 pounds pork shoulder cut into 1/4-inch slices

Directions

  1. To make the cure: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, white sugar, salt, annatto powder, Anisette, and pink salt.

  2. Place pork slices in a medium container. Add in cure and toss to evenly coat pork. Cover and let cure in refrigerator for 3 days.

  3. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread the coals evenly over entire surface of coal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate. Grill pork slices over medium-high direct heat until lightly charred and cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Special equipment

Grill

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
249Calories
14gFat
16gCarbs
15gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories249
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g17%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Cholesterol 57mg19%
Sodium 1056mg46%
Total Carbohydrate 16g6%
Dietary Fiber 0g0%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 15g
Vitamin C 1mg6%
Calcium 24mg2%
Iron 1mg5%
Potassium 227mg5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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