Humba

the Visayan answer to Chinese red-braised pork: belly simmered slowly in soy, vinegar, and palm sugar with star anise, fermented black beans, and dried banana blossom until the fat turns to jelly

Origin: Cebu and the Visayas, Philippines

From the journey of Star Anise.

Humba is the Visayan braise that sits at the exact meeting point of Chinese and Filipino cooking, and the argument over whether it is a version of adobo or a version of Hokkien red-braised pork has never been settled because it is plainly both. The name is generally derived from hong ba, the Hokkien red braise, and the debt is obvious in the ingredients: soy sauce, palm sugar, fermented black beans, and star anise are the Chinese half. The vinegar is the Filipino half, and it is the thing that makes humba Visayan rather than Chinese. Filipino braising is built on vinegar in a way no Chinese cooking is, and the sourness cutting through all that fat and sugar is what stops the dish being cloying. The distinction from adobo is worth being precise about, because visitors conflate them constantly. Adobo is sharper, saltier, and driven by vinegar, soy, bay, and peppercorns. Humba is markedly sweeter, cooked longer, and carries the three things adobo never has: star anise, fermented black beans, and dried banana blossom. Cebuanos will tell you they are not the same dish and they are right. Star anise is the aromatic that announces the Chinese lineage. It goes in whole, two or three stars, and does what it does in every long pork braise: cuts the fat and gives the sauce a resinous depth beneath the sweetness. Its presence in a Filipino household pot is a direct trace of the Hokkien communities who have been in the islands since well before the Spanish arrived, and who were the reason Manila became the western terminus of the Chinese trade at all.

Ingredients

Pork

1 kg pork belly, skin on, in 4 cm cubes

Braise

3 whole star anise
3 tbsp fermented black beans (tausi), rinsed
30 g dried banana blossom (bulaklak ng saging), soaked 20 minutes
120 ml soy sauce
120 ml cane vinegar, or cider vinegar
60 g palm sugar or muscovado, shaved
1 whole onion, sliced
8 cloves garlic, crushed
3 whole bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns, cracked
400 ml water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 whole hard-boiled eggs, peeled (optional)

To serve

1 portion steamed rice, to serve

Method

Brown the pork cubes in the oil over a medium-high heat in batches until coloured on all sides. Set aside.
Cook the onion and garlic in the same pan for five minutes until softened and fragrant.
Return the pork, add the soy sauce, palm sugar, bay, peppercorns, star anise, and water. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 45 minutes.
Pour in the vinegar and let it come back to a simmer without stirring for two to three minutes.
Add the drained black beans and the soaked banana blossom, cover, and simmer very gently for a further 45 minutes to an hour, until the pork is tender and the fat has turned translucent.
Add the eggs if using, uncover, and reduce for 15 minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy and coats the pork.
Taste and balance the sweet against the sour, and serve with plenty of steamed rice.

Notes

Star anise, fermented black beans, and dried banana blossom are the three things that make this humba rather than adobo, and none is optional. Tausi and dried banana blossom are sold in Filipino and Chinese groceries. Cane vinegar is the authentic acid; cider vinegar substitutes acceptably and white distilled vinegar is too harsh. Use tamari for a gluten-free version. The dish keeps five days refrigerated and improves throughout, which is why it is cooked in quantity for fiestas. Some Visayan households add pineapple or dried shiitake; both are common and neither is wrong.

The Gastrographer

Name: Humba
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Philippines
Ingredients: 1 kg pork belly, skin on, in 4 cm cubes; 3 whole star anise; 3 tbsp fermented black beans (tausi), rinsed; 30 g dried banana blossom (bulaklak ng saging), soaked 20 minutes; 120 ml soy sauce; 120 ml cane vinegar, or cider vinegar; 60 g palm sugar or muscovado, shaved; 1 whole onion, sliced; 8 cloves garlic, crushed; 3 whole bay leaves; 1 tsp black peppercorns, cracked; 400 ml water; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 4 whole hard-boiled eggs, peeled (optional); 1 portion steamed rice, to serve

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control