(Photo Attributed to Author: Venta Aurelio)

Menudo Filipino Style Recipe-

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. pork tenderloin, chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 3 cups fresh garbanzo beans
• 2 medium carrots, cubed
• ¹⁄₂ cup raisins
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 3 – 4 oz. tomato paste
• 4 oz. pork liver pate
• 1 medium onion, rough chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 oz. freshly grated Romano cheese (also good is Parmesan)

Marinade:

• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup carbonated soda, Sprite
• 3 tbsp. ginger flavored soy sauce (important ingredient)
• 1 tsp. pangasinan white sea salt (important ingredient, regular salt will not produce the authentic flavor of this Filipino dish)
• 4 tbsp. fresh Calamansi juice (juice from Phillippine limes, and a must have ingredient)
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp. freshly ground black peppercorns

Directions

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients together well, and divide into halves. Set one half aside, and put the pork cubes into the other half with 1 bay leaf. Let the pork marinate for at least an hour.
2. After an hour, remove the pork and drain off excess marinade in a coriander.
3. In a large saucepan or skillet, heat your oil over medium high heat, sauté the onion and garlic until fragrant and translucent, then add in the pork, the other half of the marinade, and 1 bay leaf
4. Reduce the heat to where the mixture is at just a lively simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half.
5. Now add in the liver pate, carrots, tomato sauce, tomato paste, carrots, raisins and garbanzos, and continue to simmer, stirring now and then, until the beans and carrots are softened and until the liquid is reduced and nicely thickened.
6. Next into the pan go the peppers, again cooking on simmer until they are softened.
7. Do a taste test, and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
8. Just before serving, add the grated cheese. Let it melt as you stir and distribute it evenly throughout the menudo. Serve your Menudo Filipino Style right away, while still nice and hot.