Humba

Humba, like adobo, is a delicious and quick dish that I love making when we have nothing in the fridge but pork and eggs. It has been one of my favorite dishes since I was a kid, and I used to love sipping a big bowl of the Humba sauce that my aunt made. I can't make it as good as she does, there's just no replacing Aunt's recipe.

Humba actually tastes a lot like adobo, only sweeter. The secret to the deliciousness of this dish is the star anise. It has a "cinnamony" flavor, in fact, in some dishes you can substitute cinnamon bark for star anise if you can't find it in your local store. The boiled egg is an additional bonus, it balances out the slight sweetness of this savory meal.

star anise

What you need:

• 1 pound pork loins, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 2-3 star anise
• pinch of salt
• 4 eggs, hard boiled

What to do:

In a pot over medium-high heat, combine the water and soy sauce. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the hard boiled eggs) and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, drop the heat to low and let simmer until the meat is tender. If it seems too dry after a few minutes, add more water to it (about 1/4 cup at a time).

Once the meat is tender, remove from heat and add the eggs. Serve with hot rice. Yummy!


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks:

1. I don't like dry humba so I make sure there is plenty of juice in the pot. But feel free to make it the consistency you want.
2. I have never tried humba using cinnamon. Let me know the results if you try it.