My son is half Filipino, and with the pandemic, he hasn’t seen his Filipino family in months. His dad brought him some leftover Filipino Barbeque a couple of months ago, but he’s been itching for Filipino food since. I love Filipino food, having been with my ex for ten years and enjoying much of it during family gatherings, so I had no problem making it!
He reached out to his Lola (Filipino for grandma) and asked her for some recipes. From there, I did a little research to see what other Filipino Barbeque recipes called for and created a medley from all the best. The pancit I have cooked many times over the years, so from a little reminding from Lola, I was good to go.
So, a lot of Filipino Barbeque recipes call for banana ketchup. I know, that sounds like a weird condiment, but it’s not! Rather than buy banana ketchup, I figured I would recreate it in the marinade, which was super easy to do. This marinade is AWESOME! All of the right flavors come together to form a slightly sweet, slightly salty goodness. The key, in my book, is letting the banana brown for a few days. I let the banana brown then threw it in the freezer until I was ready to use it. Once I defrosted it, it was super mushy and liquidy, which made it so easy to blend into the marinade.
I marinated the pork cubes for about two days, to be honest. But, I definitely recommend marinating this overnight so that the meat can really sop up the liquid. And basting the meat while cooking it helps create a nice caramelization on the meat, while keeping it moist. My son INSISTS that this must be eaten off of the bamboo skewers, though my husband and I were sacrilegious and removed our meat, much to my son’s chagrin.
Before barbequing the pork, I made the pancit. Pancit is super versatile. You can make it with meat, seafood, or vegetarian. You can add pretty much any vegetable you want. My experience, carrots, onions, and cabbage are pretty much the traditional ingredients to add. The important step with pancit is washing the noodles ahead of time… just really sop them with water and let them drain.
I recommend using a wok, but if you don’t have one, you can get away with a deep pan. After cooking up the vegetables and bringing the broth to a boil, when you add the pancit, it takes some work to get them fully cooked. You do a lot of pushing and flipping and shoving of the noodles into the broth to get all of the noodles to fully soak up the broth and get tender. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but you seriously question yourself when you drop the noodles into the pan thinking “the heck?” But, staying constantly hands on, pushing the noodles down into the broth, gently flipping them over, pushing, prodding, shoving… they do fully sop up the broth and get perfectly tender within about 5 minutes.
All in all, this all comes together in about 30 to 45 minutes. If you tag team with a partner, one person can cook the pancit and the other can barbeque the pork, and you’ll have dinner on the table within 30 minutes.
I feel Filipino food is often overlooked, but there are a lot of great recipes their culture offers. I highly encourage you to try this dish. It is so delicious (and don’t tell Lola, but my son said my barbeque was way better, it just lacked the nostalgia of his family gatherings ☹️). These times will pass and one day people will be looking back at this recipe saying, “wow, remember those days?” Well, maybe they won’t say it so kindly.
Anywho, enjoy!
The Best Filipino Pork Barbeque with Pancit
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes + 1 day
- Yield: 4 – 6 servings 1x
- Category: Asian, Grilling
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Filipino Barbecue
3–4 lb pork shoulder, cut into 1” to 2” cubes
1 shallot, minced
6 garlic cloves minced
1 inch ginger, minced
2 TB tomato paste
½ cup lemon juice
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup 7-Up or Sprite (I used diet 7-Up)
1 cup soy sauce
1 banana, preferably browned
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 TB salt
1/2 TB pepper
Pancit
1 to 2 TBs vegetable oil
16 oz pancit noodles, well rinsed and drained
1 red onion sliced
2 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
½ a head of cabbage, chopped
Green onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
½ cup soy sauce, divided
1 TB oyster sauce, optional
Instructions
Prepare the marinade by combining the shallots, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, lemon juice, brown sugar, 7-Up (or Sprite), soy sauce, banana, white vinegar, water, and salt and pepper. With a whisk, thoroughly combine, making sure the banana is thoroughly mashed and blended. You can also use a food processor to combine everything. Add the pork and stir to coat the meat. Refrigerator a minimum of four hours but preferably overnight.
Make the pancit. Heat a wok over medium heat. Drizzle the oil into the wok. When hot, swirl the oil to coat the sides. Add the onions and spread to cover the bottom and sides. Stirring often, cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown. Add the carrots, continuing to stir often, cook another 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and green onions. Cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Lightly salt the vegetables, if desired. Add the garlic and cook for one minute, or until fragrant. Add ¼ cup soy sauce and oyster sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the noodles to the wok. Using a firm spoon, continue to push the pancit noodles into the broth, turning and flipping. This will take a couple of minutes of constant stirring, pushing, flipping. Once the broth has been fully absorbed, make sure the noodles and vegetables are well mixed. Drizzle the remaining ¼ cup soy sauce over the pancit and mix to combine. Cover and set the burner to low while you prepare the pork.
If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for 20 to 30 minutes. Skewer the pork, reserving the marinade.
Heat a grill over medium low flame, maintaining a temperature between 350° and 400°. Place the pork skewers on the grill, toward the back, and close the lid. After about 2 minutes, drizzle some of the marinade over the skewers. Close the lid. After another 2 to 3 minutes, flip the pork over and drizzle marinade over the skewers. Close the lid. After another 2 minutes, drizzle more marinade over the skewers and close the lid. Cook another 3 minutes. Flip one last time, drizzle the skewers with marinade, and cook for an additional 3 minutes with the lid closed. Remove from the grill.
Serve with the pancit. Enjoy!
Keywords: Pancit, Filipino Barbecue, Filipino Pork, Pork Barbecue
