Filipino Whole30 Eats: Mango Pork Tocino

Mango pork tocino, served with fried eggs over purple cauliflower rice and homemade atchara

During my Whole30 in April, several of my meals were Filipino dishes that I made compliant to Whole30 specifications. Since then, I’ve been thinking it would be fun to go even further and hack even more traditional Filipino dishes to make them Whole30 approved. I enjoy a challenge now and then, and I also thought this would be a nice way for me to go back to my food tradition and find ways to refresh and renew it, making it healthier in the process.

So for the next month, I’ll be testing and sharing recipes, trying out new meal combinations out of traditional Filipino foods, and who knows? maybe even come up with new and innovative dishes out of elements from Filipino cuisine. I’ll be explaining why my versions are Whole30 compliant and occasionally making the argument as to why I think they are healthier. Join me; it’ll be interesting!

To start off, I prepared this tocino dish for a Sunday family brunch today at my mother’s house. Since we’re talking about Filipino traditions here, of course I had to start with food prepared for a family gathering.

Translations

Tocino (toh-see-noh): sweet cured meat, most often pork, sometimes chicken

Atchara (aht-chah-rah): green papaya and other veggies pickled in vinegar

Ingredients

• 1 lb. pork butt or shoulder sliced thinly into 1/4 inch thick strips
• 1/2 cup mango purée (about one ripe medium Manila mango diced and blitzed in a food processor)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar (I used cane vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)

Instructions 

1. Combine all ingredients except the pork in a small bowl. Place the pork strips in a ziploc bag or container and pour the liquid over the pork pieces. Massage the pork to make sure all the pieces are coated. Refrigerate for 1-2 days.
2. Fry the pork pieces in your favorite cooking fat (I used ghee) in medium-high heat until they are fully cooked, browned, and the pork fat has rendered and turned somewhat crispy. (You can also grill the meat if you prefer.)

Makes 2-3 servings. Tocino is typically served at breakfast with garlic rice and fried eggs. For Whole30, cauliflower rice is a good substitute for regular rice.

How this is Whole30
Tocino is normally loaded with sugar; this recipe uses a mango purée marinade to add just the right touch of sweetness. Coconut aminos took the place of soy sauce. No preservatives were used; traditionally, tocino is cured and preserved with saltpeter, which gives it its distinctive red color. (Not-so-fun fact: saltpeter, or potassium nitrate, is an ingredient in gunpowder, fertilizer, and aerosol fire suppression systems. So, yeah, definitely stuff to keep away from your food.)

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