What is the most dominant remembrance of your Father? There are certainly a wide variety of choices, but the most prominent for me is my dad’s cooking. He was very adept at cooking….specializing in Filipino Cuisine. Yes, he is of Filipino descent. I will be using my dad’s recipe for making Pork Adobo as the basis of discussion about my Father. His name is Victor. He is an immigrant from the Philippines and became a naturalized citizen of the USA. He immigrated to Hawaii in 1946. He passed away in November of 2014. The preparation, cooking, presentation and serving of the dish really portrays his whole approach to life in general.

To begin with, he uses a combination of Pork Belly, and a boneless Pork Butt or Pork Loin. His first action after removing the items from their packaging is to sprinkle and rub salt on the sections and rinses with water and allows them to dry or pats them dry with paper towels. He emphasizes this as a cleansing process, which he does with all meats he cooks. He then cuts the sections into 1’ to 2” chunks. The target proportions are 4 lbs Belly Pork and 5 lbs Pork Butt or Loin. He then places the cut pieces into a 2” deep x 9” x 13” pan, keeping the Pork Belly and Bonelsss Lean Pork Pieces sorted in the same pan. He then combines the spices and sauces and spreads them evenly over the pieces and let’s the meat marinate for a couple of hours.

Dad’s recipe: 4 lbs Belly Pork (Cut 1” x 2”), 5 lbs Pork Butt or Pork Loin (Cut 1” x 2”), 1 Large chopped round onion, 10-15 peppercorns crushed, 10 gloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of Paprika, 6 Bay leaves, 1 tablespoon ground pepper, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce, 3/4 cup Vinegar.

The cooking process begins with browning the belly pork in a large pan on medium to high heat until the pieces are brown, tender and crispy. Drain the oil. Remove the belly pork to a bowl and set aside. Cook the Pork Butt or Loin pieces in a separate pan along with the marinade/spices for 30 minutes or until liquid is just about dry and meat is tender. Do not allow the pan to boil over. Stir pot as needed. Add the belly pork to them pan and cook together an additional 15 minutes. Dish is ready to serve. Any desired vegetable may be added in the last 10 -15 minutes of the cooking cycle such as chunks of any squash, zucchini, potatoes, sliced cabbage, Napa cabbage, mustard cabbage or whatever to add variety to this recipe.

Dad was very meticulous in everything he did and accomplished. He was thorough in his preparation, completion and review of projects. If issues or obstacles arose, he always came up with a successful alternative. He was a self learner and taught himself the many skills and talents that he displayed. He was a most generous, giving and kind Father, GrandFather, Friend and Individual.

He was a very hard worker and in all areas loved doing things for his family, his neighbors, relatives, and friends. It gave him great pleasure to share his cooking and building projects with others. He didn’t talk a lot, but everyone knew he loved them by his actions.

I was truly blessed and fully appreciated and Loved my Father. My wish is that my children will say that I was a blessing to them and have a endearing appreciation of their Father!

Honor your Fathers, share the love of Family!