• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Rezel Kealoha

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • About
  • My Portfolio
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • About
    • My Portfolio
    • Subscribe
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Blog » Recipes » Healthy Filipino Recipes

    Published: Jul 5, 2019 · Modified: Apr 29, 2024 by Rezel Kealoha · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

    My Mom's Epicurious Famous Filipino BBQ Marinade

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This is the recipe for my Mom's Filipino BBQ Marinade that I wrote about in a recent Epicurious essay.

    Dream Big

    I remember as a teen I would always always steal and read cover to cover my moms Glamour magazines.  I would always look at the masthead and read all the journalists who worked at Glamour and there was always some wishful thinking that maybe one day I would be in a Conde Nast Publication.

    Filipino BBQ

    Who knew that 2o years later an essay about Filipino BBQ would get me in Epicurious.  Honestly food writing was never ever in the back of my mind as a career option.  It was just something that happened.  With this particular opportunity I jumped at the chance when I saw that the Editor for Epicurious was looking for stories about the 4th of July that didn't involve the usual hamburgers and hotdogs.

    Instantly I thought about my family's time in Japan while my Dad was serving the US Navy.  Looking back at it now, it was not the norm and super strange but to me and my other Military Brats it was the norm.

    Here are the links to all the four essays by a vary diverse group of people.  It was an honor to be with them talking about my food memories.

    "The Most Popular Food at This Japanese 4th of July Party Is My Mother's Filipino Barbecue" - Rezel Kealoha

    "Our 4th of July Ritual Is Less About Hot Dogs and More About Dumplings" by Hetty McKinnon

    "It's Hard for Me to Wrap My Chef-y Brain Around, But Our Barbecues Aren't Really About the Food." by Chef Katy Smith

    "On the Most American Holiday, My Family Feels the Most Caribbean" - Brigid Washington

    The Marinade

    Now the marinade that I talked about in the essay.  I had many DM's and emails for the recipe so here it is.  I watched my mom make it the day before the 4th of July.  Because we are using pineapple juice for both flavor and as a meat tenderizer, it is very important that you don't over marinate.

    At most 24 hours in the refrigerator is perfect.   Anymore and the meat will turn into much.  The marinade works really well with pork, but you can also use chicken or beef as well.  We have not tried it with vegetables, but probably a small amount of the marinade will work well with chunks of portabello.

    These quantities make for about 45 skewers.

    • 4 Pounds Pork Shoulder Cut into thin strips
    • 2 Cups Pineapple Juice
    • 1 Cup Coconut Aminos (sub Soy Sauce)
    • ½ Cup Coconut Sugar (sub Brown Sugar)
    • 1 Whole Head of Garlic Peeled, Crushed and Diced
    • 1 Inch of Ginger Peeled and Diced
    • 2 Teaspoons of Salt (omit if using Soy Sauce)
    • 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

    First cut the pork into thin strips and set that aside before making the marinade.  In a 1 gallon plastic bag or a huge deep baking tray mix the marinade.  Add everything and mix well until the sugar has dissolved.  Taste is super important here and the reason why we didn't pour everything over the raw meat.

    Adjust the sweetness or the saltiness according to your taste.  When you are satisfied add in the pork.  Cover and leave to rest in the refrigerator overnight.

    While it's is marinating, place some wooden skewers in a shallow bowl and cover with water.  This will help prevent the sticks from burning while grilling.

    The next day take out the pork and start to skewer the meet.  Depending on how long you cut the pork skewers 2-3 pieces on each stick.  Place it back in the marinade.

    The Grilling

    Grill on medium to high heat for about 5 minutes on each side.  The pork will be super tender and juicy and perhaps a little burnt.  Those are actually the best parts.  We like eating hours with some pancit made with udon noodles.  The ultimate Filipino/Japanese dish.

    Filipino BBQ

    My Mom’s Epicurious Famous Filipino BBQ Marinade

    This is the recipe for my Mom’s Filipino BBQ Marinade that I wrote about in a recent Epicurious essay.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    Prep Time: 1 day day
    Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 day day 45 minutes minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Filipino
    Servings: 45 Skewers
    Author: Rezel Kealoha

    Ingredients

    • 4 Pounds Pork Shoulder Cut into thin strips
    • 2 Cups Pineapple Juice
    • 1 Cup Coconut Aminos sub Soy Sauce
    • ½ Cup Coconut Sugar sub Brown Sugar
    • 1 Whole Head of Garlic Peeled Crushed and Diced
    • 1 Inch of Ginger Peeled and Diced
    • 2 Teaspoons of Salt omit if using Soy Sauce
    • 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
    • Olive Oil for the Grill

    Instructions

    • First cut the pork into thin strips and set that aside before making the marinade. In a 1 gallon plastic bag or a huge deep baking tray mix the marinade. Add everything and mix well until the sugar has dissolved. Taste is super important here and the reason why we didn’t pour everything over the raw meat.
    • Adjust the sweetness or the saltiness according to your taste. When you are satisfied add in the pork. Cover and leave to rest in the refrigerator overnight.
    • While it’s is marinating, place some wooden skewers in a shallow bowl and cover with water. This will help prevent the sticks from burning while grilling.
    • The next day take out the pork and start to skewer the meet. Depending on how long you cut the pork skewers 2-3 pieces on each stick. Place it back in the marinade until grilling time.
    • Coat the grill in olive oil and cook on medium to high heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side.

    Notes

    In my essay I wrote about the original ingredients using Soy Sauce and Brown Sugar.  You can still use those ingredients in the same quantities, just omitting the extra salt when you do. 
    My family needs to keep track of our sugar and salt intake hence the deviation.  It actually still tastes exactly the same.
    We also could not find pineapple juice with crushed chunks so we just used some regular pineapple just.  Again it didn't change the flavor at all.
     
    Did you enjoy making it? I would love to see it! Tag me on Instagram @rezelkealoha with the #rezelkealoha!
    For more healthy Filipino inspired goodness in your life follow along on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.  Or subscribe to get these recipes in your inbox.  And if you make my moms Filipino BBQ I would love to see it.  Tag your Instagram snaps with @rezelkealoha and #rezelkealohaeats.

    More Healthy Filipino Recipes

    • Yes, You Can Cook Crispy Lumpia In The Oven!
    • Pastillas Recipe That Happens To Be Vegan
    • Blueberry Bibingka Muffins
    • Strawberry Taho

    Reader Interactions

    3.33 from 46 votes (46 ratings without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hi! I'm Rezel and I am here to guide you on how to use those Filipino ingredients you have in a fresh new way. As a fellow home cook, the focus is easy to make recipes with lots of Filipino flavor. You will find a mix of reimagined Filipino Recipes along side traditional recipes on our site.

    More about me →

    My Current Favorites

    • Sans Rival Candy Bark
    • Bread Dip in an Ube Bread Bowl
    • Afritada Lasagna Recipe
    • Seafood Kare Kare with Udon
      Seafood Kare Kare with Udon Noodles Recipe
    • Kale Laing With Chili Crisp
    • Maruya (Filipino Baked Banana Fritter) Recipe
    • Lumpiang Hubad (Lumpia Salad Bowl)
    • Panzanella with Pandesal
      Panzanella with Pandesal Recipe

    Wear Your Food!

    From Bangus to calamansi, wear our merch featuring your favorite Filipino ingredients! Hindi lang pampakain, pamporma rin!

    Get the stuff!

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Terms and Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2024 Rezel Kealoha

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.