My Mom’s BBQ has always been a favourite in our family. Friends who have tried my Mom’s Filipino BBQ have always wanted her to bottle the recipe and sell it! Mom never gave out her recipe, but would tell them what the ingredients were.
I used to think she never gave out her recipe because she didn’t want anyone to know it or be able to reproduce it, but I’ve come to realize that there is no real recipe. She just goes by taste.
I’ve tried out a few recipes and have come up with one that is a hit! My husband and four year old daughter pretty much inhale this Filipino pork BBQ!
Filipino BBQ
Ingredients:
2 lbs pork
1 c. soy sauce
1 whole garlic, peeled, smashed, and minced
1 onion, minced
2 lemons
1/2 c. 7-Up
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 tbsp brown sugar
1 c. Mafran filipino banana sauce (Jufran or UFC are okay, but I prefer Mafran) *If you can’t get filipino banana sauce, you can use ketchup
1/2 c smooth peanut butter (optional)
Instructions:
Cut pork into bite sized cubes (about 2 inches)
In a large container or tupperware, add soy sauce, garlic, onion, juice of 2 lemons, ground pepper, brown sugar, 7-Up, Mafran and peanut butter. Mix marinade well.
Add pork to the marinade, seal container and refrigerate overnight. The longer you marinate it, the better the flavour!
Soak bamboo skewers in water.
I actually used 1 lb pork and 1 lb beef because that’s what I had handy. I have to admit that I though the BBQ tastes amazing with either choice of meat, I love the pork version best. I’ve even tried this with venison. The marinade is what makes it! Clearly, the secret is in the sauce!
After you have marinated your meat, take a bamboo skewer and “tuhog” the meat. Tuhog means skewer/BBQ stick in Cebuano (a Filipino dialect). I remember as a kid, my mom would always ask me to “tuhog” the meat when we had parties. To this day, every time I make Filipino BBQ, I remember all the family parties and it brings back fond memories. It’s kind of like a rite of passage. My 4 year old wanted to help me, but I was worried she’d get splinters or pierce her fingers with the skewers. She assisted me in the kitchen by adding the ingredients to the marinade after I minced, cut, chopped, and measured.
Once you’ve put all the meat onto skewers, cook them on the BBQ until fully cooked.
Enjoy! This is one of our favourites!
I thought I had tried every kind of BBQ, but turns out I haven’t! This sounds good! I’ve never had banana sauce, so that will be new! I can’t add peanut butter–nephew is allergic–but rather than just omit it, I might try using Sun Butter (made from sunflower seeds.) Hmm, I wonder if that would work?
I love the sauce! If anybody is wondering if one can prepare this dish in the crock pot, i just posted a recipe adapted from this in my blog:
http://lulucooksandtells.blogspot.com/2014/08/crock-pot-pork-barbecue.html.
Thanks for the recipe
Oh my goodness I would love this for sure. I love checking out all your recipes 🙂
Oh my gosh! Jennifer, thanks so much for your kind words! xo
Canine:
I love the banana ketchup too. It’s just hard to get here. I’ve only seen UFC and Jufran in Canada. We used to get Mafran (and that’s the only banana ketchup I like—yeah, I’m a snob). I brought two bottles of Mafran from the Philippines and have been rationing what I’ve got!
Do they sell Mafran in the U.S.?
I’ve never used regular ketchup, but my mom said it could be used if banana ketchup isn’t available. i love the taste of mafran in the marinade.
Dreena:
🙂 Let me know if you try making this! Would love to know what you think!
Canine:
My Mom uses ketchup and said she’s never heard of anyone using Mafran like I did. She thought that was weird. LOL!
Mmm! Pineapple juice would be good!!
Thanks for your recipe share. It looks very tasty.
Cheers.
~Dreena~
hi c! you’re so right about there not being a tried and true recipe. it’s all by sight and taste and whatever you have on hand.
my mom makes her version different everytime. she’ll sometimes use 7up or sometimes pineapple juice. she also uses the banana ketchup too which gives it a nice color and flavor.
as for myself, i just eyeball it. i like adding pineapple or sometimes even orange juice for the acidic component. oh yeah, and lots and lots of garlic!
This brings back memories, my mom did it the same way your mom does with 7up, peanut butter, pineapple, lemon, soy sauce with lots of garlic,