Looking for the best homemade Pork Hamonado recipe?
This decadent Filipino Hamonado features marinated pork belly stir fried until crispy then braised with soy sauce and pineapple juice.
The finger-licking-good sauce features a combination of unique ingredients that produce a complex salty, sour and sweet taste.
We suggest eating Hamonado with steamed rice or stir fried noodles.
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What Is Hamonado?
Hamonado is a Filipino dish consisting of meat marinated and cooked in a sweet pineapple sauce. It is a popular dish to serve during Christmas in Philippine regions where pineapples are grown. Hamonado is also a general term for savoury dishes marinated or cooked with pineapple in the Philippines.
The name hamonado is the Tagalog spelling of Spanish jamonado, meaning “prepared like ham.”
Typically meat (usually fatty cuts of pork, but can also be chicken or beef) are marinated overnight in a sweet sauce made with pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and spices. The marinated pork is then pan-fried until browned and crispy. The meat is simmered in stock with pineapple chunks until the meat is tender then served with steamed rice.
Our Pork Hamonado recipe has a characteristically salty (soy sauce), sour (vinegar), and sweet taste (pineapple).
Travel to the Philippines by Cooking Pork Hamonado at Home
I love traveling to Asia.
My first visit had me living in South Korea for a year as a teacher and it’s where I was first introduced to fermented vegetables like kimchi.
After my contract ended in Seoul I travelled throughout southeast Asia for 6 months, visiting Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
On my first visit I spent over a month backpacking through the Philippines. Over the years I’ve explored Filipino destinations such as Manila, Cebu, Bohol, Banaue, Batad and Boracay,
What I found most fascinating is the Philippine’s distinct regional food cultures. Much like the regional cuisines found in Germany, Italy or Spain, each island in the Philippine’s had its own local speciality.
I’ll never forget my first visit to the Philippines. I landed in Manila around the dinner hour and after checking into my hotel room I ordered a plate of Pork Belly Hamonado from a local restaurant.
I fell in love with the dishes unique flavour profile, a blissful combination of sweet, salty and sour.
You May Also Enjoy Reading The Filipino Travel Stories…
- The Lind Hotel in Boracay
- Shangri-La Boracay Resort’s Rima Restaurant
- Things To Do in Boracay
- Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa
- Discovery Shores Resort in Boracay
- Hiking the Ancient Rice Terraces of Banaue and Batad
- Exploring the Chaos and Colour of Manila
- The World’s Most Beautiful Beach Found on the Island of Boracay
- Colonial Cebu and the Beautiful Nature of Bohol
Where To Eat Filipino Hamonado
If you live in a large city in Canada or America you’ll likely have access to a local Filipino restaurant that serves traditional Hamonado.
Haven’t traveled to the Philippines before? It may be helpful to first sample the famous Filipino pork dish at a local restaurant to better understand how it is served. You can determine the prefered cut of pork to use, ideal meat to pineapple ratio and other complimentary Filipino dishes to serve at the table.
In Toronto, popular Filipino restaurants in that may serve Pork Hamonado include Lake Inez, Lamesa Filipino Kitchen, Tinuno, Casa Manila, Wilson’s Haus of Lechon, Islas Filipino, Sampaguita Village and Lechon Republik.
My Family Loves Filipino Pork Hamonado
I love cooking at home for my family and friends.
I adore pairing pork with bold Asian flavours. You may also like to try our popular Gaeng Hung Lay Burmese Pork Belly Curry, Cha Trung Vietnamese Meatloaf, Moo Ping BBQ Grilled Thai Pork Skewers, and Oven Roasted Korean Gochujang Pulled Pork Shoulder.
I first made this Filipino pork dish on a cold winter day for my parents as a way to transport our taste buds to a hot and sunny beach like Boracay.
Hamando is most often prepared with pork and can use several cuts of meat. For a Christmas roast many families purchase a large pork shoulder or pork butt to bake during the holidays. Our favourite way to make the dish is by using fatty pork belly and cooking it until it gets crispy. You can also use pork hocks or even pork chops.
The combination of sour vinegar, salty soy sauce and sweet brown sugar give this Pork Hamonado recipe a bold and addictive flavour profile. It’s honestly unfathomable to me that anyone would have leftovers!
The recipe is perfect for a family gathering like a dinner party or potluck. Even picky kids love to eat crispy and sweet pork belly slices over a bed or steamed rice.
Health Benefits
Our Hamonado recipe is packed full of healthy ingredients!
Pork is an excellent source of protein and provides several important vitamins and minerals. It’s an excellent source of thiamin, selenium, niacin, vitamin B-6 and phosphorus, zinc, riboflavin and potassium.
Onions are a humble vegetable packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Regular consumption of onions can help boost digestive health and reduce the risk of developing heart disease.
It is only recently that scientists have begun to identify the components responsible for garlic’s myriad health benefits. Rich in phytochemicals and potassium, garlic helps boost your immune system, fight cancer and protect your heart.
Pineapple features vitamins and minerals that are known to help shorten viral and bacterial infections and strengthen bones. There’s also evidence that the tropical fruit may help prevent cancer and help fertility by improving the quality of sperm.
Recipe Cooking Tips
This delicious Pork Hamonado recipe is quick and easy to make at home.
- Use a wok or large skillet to stir fry the pork slices.
- The dish is typically prepared with pork using either a shoulder/butt cut for a roast or pork belly to stir fry.
- You can cook large pieces of pork belly but we prefer to slice the pork belly into thin slices so they get crispy and are easy to grab with chopsticks.
- We’ve used Spanish cooking onions in this recipe but you can substitute for shallots, white onion or sweet vidalia onions.
- We’ve used apple cider vinegar in this recipe but you can substitute with traditional Filipino Nipa Palm Vinegar.
- We’ve used brown sugar to sweeten the dish but you can substitute for palm sugar if you prefer.
- We used store bought pineapple juice and canned pineapple rings to make this quick & easy recipe but you can slice up a fresh pineapple if you prefer.
What To Serve with Hamonado
We love the versatility of this Hamonado recipe! The tangy soy sauce and pineapple sauce can be cooked with fatty pork belly, large bone-in pork butt/shoulder roast, pork hock or even pork chops.
The dish is typically served over steamed rice or stir fried noodles. If you are looking to try other Filipino foods pair this pork dish with another popular main course Spicy Coconut Chicken Wing Stew.
For a light lunch or dinner, pair Hamonado with fresh Asian salads like Vegan Citrus “Rojak” Singapore Salad, Laos Papaya Salad Tum Mak Hoong, Goi Xoai Vietnamese Mango Salad, Goi Ga Vietnamese Salad and Nam Tok Authentic Thai “Waterfall Beef” Salad.
If you’re hosting an Asian dinner party you may like to serve these popular dishes at the table:
- Gaeng Phed Ped Yang Roast Duck Thai Red Curry
- Kanom Jeeb Thai Steamed Dumplings
- Crispy Spicy Fried Lemongrass Vietnamese Tofu
- Sweet & Spicy Thit Ram Vietnamese Caramel Pork
- Penang Prawn Noodle Soup Hokkien Mee
- Roti Canai Curry
- Gaeng Hung Lay Burmese Pork Belly Curry
- Burmese Khow Suey Pork Coconut Noodle Soup
- Creamy Coconut Burmese Chicken Curry
- Singaporean Bak Chor Mee Minced Pork Noodle Soup
- Citrus “Rojak” Singapore Salad
- Seafood Laksa Singaporean Shrimp & Fish Soup
- Perkedel Jagung Crispy Indonesian Corn Fritters
- Asinan Sayur Indonesian Coleslaw Cabbage Salad
Storage
If you have leftovers you can store them in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
To reheat simply zap it in the microwave or return to a wok or large pot with a splash of chicken stock and stir until warm.
How To Make Filipino Pork Hamonado (VIDEO RECIPE)
Filipino Pineapple Pork Hamonado
Equipment
- French knife
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Wok
- Spatula or Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 lb Pork Belly cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 Spanish Onion finely chopped
- 5 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 cup Pineapple Juice
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tsp Black Peppercorns
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- Kosher Salt to taste
- 1 cup Pineapple Chunks
Instructions
- In a Dutch Oven or wok over medium-high heat, heat oil until very hot.
- Add the pork belly chunks in a single layer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes and lightly browned. Turn and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until all sides are crispy.
- Remove pork belly from the pot and drain on paper towels.
- In the pot, add onions and garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until softened.
- Add pork belly chunks back to the pot and stir to combine.
- Add pineapple juice and vinegar. Bring to a boil, uncovered and without stirring, for 3-5 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, water, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, until pork pieces are tender and sauce has reduced.
- Add brown sugar and stir to combine. Season with salt to taste. Continue to simmer until sauce is thickened.
- Add pineapple chunks and cook for 1 minute until heated through.
- Serve hot with steamed rice.
Nutrition
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