PAKSIW NA PATA (Braised Pork Knuckle)

When I was growing up, I would love gnawing away at fresh crispy pata. If there happened to be leftovers, my grandma or aunt would use them to make paksiw. I loved all the textures—the thick, sticky sauce full of collagen mixed with rice, fat, tendon, meat, and marrow. It’s been YEARS since I’ve had this so when I found fresh pork knuckles at the store it was obvious what I was going to make.

This is a dish that is unapologetically for me and me alone; my family won’t touch it. It’s a little time-consuming to make and takes work to eat since you have to pick out all the bones while avoiding stray peppercorns, but it’s delicious and comforting and reminds me of home. A good reminder that good things take time and require patience. And that sometimes it’s okay to just make something for yourself.

🖤Jane

INIHAW NA LIEMPO

For as long as I can remember, my family always had some kind of inihaw at every gathering. One favorite was inihaw na liempo, so naturally it would appear at the Noche Buena spread. Inihaw na liempo is ubiquitous in the Philippines where pork is king. It’s an equalizer—rich or poor, everyone loves it. I distinctly remember eating a piece that just came off the charcoal grill: it had some serious char & had the perfect balance of crisp & chewy textures, of salt & acid. On its own, it was already delicious but could be enhanced with a dunk in some sinamak or toyomansi.

Preparation for this dish is simple: you marinate pork belly & you grill it. When I was chatting with family members about how the marinade was prepared, I received a few variations: with soy, with salt, with vinegar, with calamansi. The basics include some sort of acid, some form of salt, garlic & pepper with varying ratios of each ingredient. In short, everyone has their own way of doing it so I followed suit.

I like liempo more acid forward so I do a 2:1 ratio of acid to salt. In this case, I used sugarcane vinegar and tamari. Sugarcane vinegar, native to the Ilocos region of the Philippines, is reminiscent of sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Then I added crushed garlic cloves, black pepper & liempo slices. Marination time varies, but anywhere between 6-8 hours works. Depending on thickness of the slices, the cook time will vary. On my stovetop grill, it usually takes only a few minutes on each side before they’re ready to be enjoyed with rice & sawsawan (sinamak from @magnapdx) of choice.

Having to think & dig & write about this has brought back so many happy memories of me celebrating the Advent Season with my family both in the Philippines & back in California. It’s such a simple dish, but cooking it makes me feel a little closer to them at a time when it’s not so simple to just catch a flight to see them. Hopefully, I’ll be able to see them soon, but until then I’ll be cooking for comfort and creating my own Noche Buena memories with my little family here.

More soon. In the meantime, we’d love to hear about some dishes you make during the holiday season!

🖤Jane