This one is for a special request by Dave from Fatty Mac BBQ.  He asked for a recipe for Filipino adobo that was adapted to the grill.  Being half Filipino, I’ve eaten and cooked my fair share of adobo, but never grilled.  Traditionally, adobo is pork or chicken that is braised in a sauce of soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and vinegar.  There are countless variations, and every family has their own recipe.When I was started working on this, I first looked in the freezer to see what kind of meat I had handy and found a couple of chunks of skinless pork belly that were about a pound each.  Since I was trying out a new recipe, I decided to try two different recipes for grilled Filipino pork belly adobo: one that was more traditional, and one with a bit more of a BBQ influence.  Both recipes are below:

Filipino Pork Belly Adobo Skewers – Traditional Flavour

Ingredients:

• 1 lb piece of skinless pork belly
• 2/3 cup of light soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of white vinegar
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 3 gloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

Instructions:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl except for the pork belly to make the marinade.
2. Pour the marinade over the pork belly in a ziploc bag or other container, and put it in the fridge for at least a few hours, but preferably overnight.  If the meat is not completely covered, flip it at least once while marinading.
3. Remove the belly from the marinade and brush off any loose bits.
   

   Pork belly, out of the marinade

4. Cut the belly into cubes
5. Skewer the cubes, preferably on metal skewers.  These will be on the grill for a while, so wooden skewers are not recommended.
   

   Skewered and ready for the grill – tried some different sizes

6. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to a medium heat, and make sure to oil the grill grate well to prevent the skewers from sticking.
7. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, turning every 5-10 minutes.  Adjust your cooking time to suit the size you cut the pork belly cubes into.
   

   Finished unglazed skewers

Filipino Pork Belly Adobo Skewers – BBQ Fusion Style

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb piece of skinless pork belly
• 1 cup of light soy sauce
• 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 5 gloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 seeded and minced jalapeno pepper
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix everything together in a bowl except for the pork belly to make the marinade.
2. Pour half of the marinade over the pork belly in a ziploc bag or other container, and put it in the fridge for at least a few hours, but preferably overnight.  If the meat is not completely covered, flip it at least once while marinading.
3. Remove the belly from the marinade and brush off any loose bits.
4. Cut the belly into cubes
5. Skewer the cubes, preferably on metal skewers.  These will be on the grill for a while, so wooden skewers are not recommended.
6. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to a medium heat, and make sure to oil the grill grate well to prevent the skewers from sticking.
7. While the skewers are cooking, take the reserved half of the marinade and simmer it on the stove to reduce until you get a nice thick sauce
8. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, turning every 5-10 minutes.  When the skewers are a few minutes from being ready, glaze both sides using the reduced marinade sauce.  Adjust your cooking time to suit the size you cut the pork belly cubes into.
   

   Glazed adobo pork belly skewers

I was really happy with the way these turned out and will have to make them again soon.  A good alternate way of doing these would be to cut the cubes bigger, smoke them for a few hours, and then give them a hot sear.

The taste was great, and reminded me a lot of the adobo that my mother and grandmother make.  Perfect on their own as an appetizer when cut into smaller pieces, and great with some steamed rice and veggies!