Yes you can make Tocino Bacon! It's actually super easy. All you need is some soy sauce, vinegar, lots of ginger and of course brown sugar and pineapple juice. Marinate it with some thick cut pork belly slices and you have Tocino Bacon.
I asked my mom what her Tocino recipe is and she sent me a list of ingredients. No joke.
No measurements or instructions. Just a list of ingredients. Ha! So I took her list of ingredients and made proper instructions for you to make it.
What to make note is to not use the pre packaged bacon, but to start from scratch using just plain sliced pork belly.
The beauty of today times is that there is basically an HMart all over the us so you can get a pound of thick cut slices of pork belly. That is very important in this recipe. Don't use actually bacon. If you are not in the US then go to your closest Asian market or go to your local butcher and ask them to thick cut slices of pork belly for you.
Ingredients
The beauty of this marinade is that you can adjust it to your taste. Add more or less of any of the below to get your own magic Tocino mix.
Sliced Pork Belly - Make sure it is thick cut and get between a pound and a pound and a half.
Brown Sugar - You will need ½ cups of packed in the measuring cup of brown sugar.
Garlic - I used a tube, but it's better to use fresh garlic and mince it up.
Soy Sauce - Go for the brand silver swan anytime you make Filipino food. It makes a difference.
Vinegar - I see many people recommend rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I say go for Datu Puti regular white vinegar.
Pineapple Juice - Use 100% pure pineapple juice about ½ cup.
Atchuete or Annato Powder - Traditional Tocino is usually this strange pink color, which is from food coloring. In this recipe we are going to use Atchuete for a bit of color, but you can totally skip it. This is optional.
How To Make Tocino Bacon
Combine the brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, pineapple juice and atchuete in a container that can be closed and hold the marinade.
Stir it all up and taste. Adjust by adding more of any of the ingredients. Please do this part before adding raw meat. As once you add in the meat you can't do a taste test anymore. It would not be safe.
Once you are satisfied with the marinade add the pork belly slices making sure that it's covered by the marinade. Store it in the refrigerator overnight or up to 3 days. The longer you marinate it , it will start to cure the meat especially the fat. Your Tocino Bacon will be even more sarap.
On cooking day pre-heat your oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with foil. Then lay down your pieces of Tocino Bacon.
Bake for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes flip it over to the other side.
You can stop cooking at 20 minutes if you want soft Tocino Bacon. If you want it more crispy turn down the oven temperature to 350F and cook at 5 minute intervals until you have your desired doneness.
Transfer the cooked Tocino Bacon to a tray lined with paper towels. These cooked for a total of 30 minutes. They are nice and brown and crispy.
How To Serve and Store Your Tocino Bacon
I have to say Tocino is the original Millionaire's Bacon. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and are familiar with Sweet Maple - these taste exactly the same.
Anyway I would eat them right after they are cooked. Once they cool they are still edible but get a bit harder because of the sugars.
I keep mine in a Tupperware in the refrigerator and heat it up for 5 minutes in the toaster oven. Even just doing 30 seconds in the microwave gets them nice and soft again.
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Equipment
- Large Covered Container
- 2 Baking Sheets
- Foil
- Paper Towel
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Pound Thick Sliced Pork Belly
- ½ Cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
- ½ Cup Pineapple Juice
- 3 Cloves Minced Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Vinegar
- 1 Teaspoon Atchuete Powder (Optional for Color)
Instructions
- Combine the brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, pineapple juice and atchuete in a container that can be closed and hold the marinade. Stir it all up and taste. Adjust by adding more of any of the ingredients. Please do this part before adding raw meat. As once you add in the meat you can't do a taste test anymore. It would not be safe.
- Once you are satisfied with the marinade add the pork belly slices making sure that it's covered by the marinade. Store it in the refrigerator overnight or up to 3 days. The longer you marinate it , it will start to cure the meat especially the fat. Your Tocino Bacon will be even more sarap.
- On cooking day pre-heat your oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with foil. Then lay down your pieces of Tocino Bacon.Bake for 10 minutes. Then open the oven and flip all the Tocino Bacon to the other side. Bake for a further 10 minutes.
- You can stop cooking at 20 minutes if you want soft Tocino Bacon. If you want it more crispy turn down the oven temperature to 350F and cook at 5 minute intervals until you have your desired doneness.
- Transfer the cooked Tocino Bacon to a tray lined with paper towels. Then transfer to a serving platter and eat right away.
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