Afritada (Pork Tomato Stew)

My Mom recently lent me one of her favorite go-to cookbooks, "Let's Cook with Nora". Published in 1969, it's a compilation of Filipino, Chinese and European dishes written by a Filipina, Nora V. Daza.

Reading over 300+ recipes, I found one of my childhood comfort foods, afridata! Afridata is a Spanish influenced homestyle dish with braised pork and/or chicken and fresh vegetables bathed in a garlicky rich tomato-sauce. Yummers!! So here's Nora's recipe with a Candice's Cusina twist - pan fried potatoes.

Did you know: Nora Daza, known as the Julia Child of the Philippines, opened up "Au Bon Vivant" in the 1960s, and it was the first authentic French restaurant in the Philippines.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced medium
  
• 5-7 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium red pepper, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 lb pork chop, 1/2-inch cubed pieces
  
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/8 cup bread crumbs
• 4 medium potatoes, sliced into wedges
• salt & pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat a pan to medium high then add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Saute onion until translucent, 2 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes, cook for another 2 minutes.
2. In another pan, heat to medium high and add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Add potato wedges and pan fry for 10-12 minutes, constantly turning wedges until all sides are golden brown. Salt & pepper to taste
3. Add pork and vinegar then let boil for 2-3 minutes. Then add tomato sauce, chicken stock and brown sugar to pork mixture, cook for another 4 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste.
   
4. When the pork is tender, add the red peppers bread crumbs to help thicken the sauce. Cook for 5 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat and serve afritada with the fried potato wedges. Masarup!!

Try this: Replace pork with chicken breast then add carrots and peas!