My Diet Starts Tomorrow (After I Cook My Pork Pata Adobado)

I was extremely amused when my boss and his wife gave me a keychain last Christmas 2008 which says, “My diet starts tomorrow”. I was even tempted to place “always” between “diet” and "starts". That was always my plan anyway – starting my diet tomorrow. And then tomorrow comes, and I still say, “I will start my diet tomorrow”. And everyday that happens. Everyday, I put off plans of starting my diet. How can I start dieting when good food – heavenly comfort food – is always around?



I used to tell myself that I will only eat oatmeal for breakfast and dinner. But what for?! A few hours after I eat the oatmeal, my stomach complains! And boy does it ever complain! And then I started eating camote because Gretchen Barreto says it’s good for her diet. But the camote makes me pass gas (oops)! As if that’s not embarrassing enough, I burp real loud every time I eat camote! Hayyy.. These diets are gonna kill me faster than I can say Crestor[1] and Lesofat[2].


Besides, I love cooking too much. Almost every Sunday, I try different versions of Humba or Adobo (these two are my favorite Pinoy recipes). Of course, I wouldn’t be able to assess how good my cooking tastes if I won’t eat it, right? You always have to critique your own cooking because you just don’t know when someone is telling you the truth about it (excuses, excuses!). My sweet Humba is a killer (hehe, double entendre)! The sticky sweet/salty flavor is just to die for! My mom taught me the recipe, and I guess she got it from her Nanay. Nanay is a really, really, reallyyyyyyy good cook. I remember always wanting to visit her in the province and requesting for vegetables because she made them taste so good. Her best recipe was munggos with kamunggay fruit pods. It was surprisingly delicious (yummy!! craving, craving..). But nothing compares to the Humba. I won’t divulge the recipe, no, no! But I will let you try a recipe that I will be cooking really soon – Pork Pata Adobado:

You will need:


1 kilo Pork pata slices (pork legs/hocks)
3 tbsp Crushed garlic
1 tbsp Freshly cracked black peppercorns
1 pc Bay leaf
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup Soy sauce
¾ cup Cane vinegar
2 cups Water
1 tbsp Minced garlic
1 cup Chopped onions
1 cup Chopped tomatoes

And here is what you do:


Combine the first eight ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer, covered for 45 minutes. Remove cover and cook for another 5 minutes for sauce to reduce and thicken. Separate the sauce from the meat and set aside. In another pan, sauté onions, garlic and tomatoes until tender. Add the meat and cook for 5 minutes. You may add the sauce if you like or you may serve it on the side. And finally, eat and be merry!! ☺


Let me know if you like it and I’ll be posting another favorite recipe soon. I know this recipe takes a long time to prepare and cook, but I promise it’s all worth it! For easier, under-10-minutes recipes, please use my search box (powered by Google) and search for Ajinomoto Quickfire. It should take you to Ka-toque, their website. Enjoy!




Notes:
[1] Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) is a prescription drug that is used to treat high cholesterol.
[2] Lesofat (orlistat) is an anti-obesity capsule.