Sunday, April 1, 2012

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!