Home Meat and Poultry
3.96
/5
50 minutes mins
209 Comments
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By: Lalaine ManaloPosted: 03/27/2023Updated: 03/27/2023
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Filipino Pork Barbecue on a Stick are as much fun to eat as they are delicious. With a sweet, salty, and slightly spicy flavor combo, they're absolutely addictive!
Table Of Contents
- 1 Pork cut to use
- 2 Marinade ingredients
- 3 Helpful tips
- 4 How to serve and store
- 5 More grilled recipes
- 6 Filipino Pork Barbecue
Since our weather is beginning to heat up here in Texas, and G has been firing up the charcoal pit almost every day, I thought I'd repost our favorite thing to grill.
Filipino pork barbecue is a meat kebab made of pork slices marinated in a sweet and savory sauce and grilled to perfection. It's popular street food in the Philippines, commonly peddled on makeshift grill carts at street corners. It's also a regular mainstay at parties and special gatherings and widely enjoyed as a viand with hefty servings of rice or as portable appetizers to complement ice-cold beer.
Pork cut to use
The success of your pork barbecue is half the marinade and half the type of pork you use. For the best texture and flavor, choose a cut with adequate ribbons of fat, such as pork butt (kasim). Pork belly is too fatty to use, and pork loin or tenderloin is too lean and dry.
Make sure to slice in very thin, uniform sizes to ensure even cooking and across the grain for a tender chew. You can also have the butcher slice the meat for you; ask for pang-BBQ.
Marinade ingredients
Like most mainstream dishes, every Filipino cook or household has their version of barbecue pork. While calamansi or lemon juice appears to be standard for most Filipino pork barbecue recipes, I use vinegar instead to help tenderize the meat.
I first marinate the thin pork slices in a mixture of vinegar, 7-up, soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, chili peppers, and copious amounts of garlic to amp up the flavor and then finish off the partially grilled meat with a basting mixture of oyster sauce, banana ketchup, and sesame oil to achieve gooey, sticky, yummy goodness.
This recipe makes about 50 barbecue sticks. Who needs 50 pieces of Filipino pork barbecue, you say? Please take one bite. You’ll thank me later.
These barbecue pork on a stick are seriously addictive; you'd wish you made more! A delightful marriage of sweet, salty, and spicy, you'll be hard-pressed to stop at just one.
Ready to grill a batch? Check out my tips below for the best pork barbecue ever!
Helpful tips
- Soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before skewering the meat to prevent them from burning when grilling.
- Drain the sliced pork well and pat dry so the excess liquid does not dilute the marinade.
- For great depth of flavor, marinate the meat for at least 4 hours or overnight for best results. I don't recommend marinating the meat longer than overnight as the acids in the marinade will break down the protein fibers of the meat.
- For food safety, discard the marinade and make a fresh batch of basting sauce. If you want to use the marinade, boil it for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce the marinade and kill off any bacteria from the raw meat.
- To prevent excessive charring and the meat from burning before fully cooked, grill the pork FIRST for a few minutes on each side before basting. Once the meat changes color, start brushing with the sauce.
How to serve and store
- Filipino-style barbecue is traditionally enjoyed as a snack or party appetizer. It's popular street food, usually with vinegar dipping sauce and a pulutan served with hard drinks.
- It's also commonly served as a main meal with pancit or rice. Try it with Java rice and homemade atchara for a delicious feast the whole family will love!
- As the recipe makes a huge amount, you may want to keep the seasoned meat in the freezer for future use. Transfer to resealable bags or air-tight containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
More grilled recipes
Filipino Pork Barbecue
Filipino Pork Barbecue are made of pork slices marinated in a sweet BBQ sauce and skewered in bamboo sticks. Sweet, salty, and slightly spicy, these Filipino-style meat kebabs are seriously addictive!
Prep Time: 30 minutes mins
Cook Time: 20 minutes mins
Marinating: 8 hours hrs
Total Time: 50 minutes mins
Author: Lalaine Manalo
Course: Appetizer, Main Entree
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50 Servings
Ingredients
- 6 pounds pork butt, sliced to 1-inch wide and ¼-inch thick
- 3 cups 7-up
- 2 cups soy sauce
- 2 cups vinegar
- 2 cups oyster sauce
- 3 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup garlic, peeled and minced
- 10 Thai chili peppers (siling labuyo), minced
- 2 cups banana ketchup
- ½ cup sesame oil
For the Spiced Vinegar Dip
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- ½ onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 Thai chili peppers, chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
US CustomaryMetric
Instructions
Rinse pork strips and drain well. Pat dry.
In alarge bowl, combine 7-up, soy sauce, vinegar, 1 cup of the oyster sauce, brown sugar, garlic, black pepper, and chili peppers.
Add pork and massage meat to fully incorporate. Marinate, turning meat once or twice, in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight for best results.
Thread 2 to 3 meat slices onto each skewer.
In a bowl, combine remaining 1 cup of oyster sauce, banana ketchup, and sesame oil. Set aside.
Grill meat kebabs over hot coals for about 2 to 3 minutes each side.
When pork starts to lose its pink, baste with oyster sauce-ketchup mixture. Continue to grill and baste, turning on sides, until meat is cooked through.
Remove from heat and serve as is or with spicy vinegar dip.
For the Spiced Vinegar Dip
In a bowl, combine vinegar, garlic, onion, chili peppers, ground pepper, and salt.
Notes
- Soak the bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before skewering the meat to prevent them from burning when grilling.
- Drain the sliced pork well and pat dry so the excess liquid does not dilute the marinade.
- For great depth of flavor, marinate the meat for at least 4 hours or overnight for best results. I don't recommend marinating the meat longer than overnight as the acids in the marinade will break down the protein fibers of the meat.
- For food safety, discard the marinade and make a fresh batch of basting sauce. If you want to use the marinade, boil it for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce the marinade and kill off any bacteria from the raw meat.
- To prevent excessive charring and the meat from burning before fully cooked, grill the pork FIRST for a few minutes on each side before basting. Once the meat changes color, start brushing with the sauce.
Video
Nutrition Information
Calories: 175kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 912mg, Potassium: 270mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 50IU, Vitamin C: 1.7mg, Calcium: 32mg, Iron: 1.1mg
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
About Lalaine Manalo
Welcome to Kawaling Pinoy. Here you’ll find hundreds of delicious Filipino and Asian recipes. Make sure to browse around and pick a favorite dish or two. Happy cooking! Read More
Reader Interactions
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glenn taylor says
Love Filipino BBQ! Use to buy it on the street in Olongapo in the morning on the way back to base after a night on the town! Back at the barracks we had a little pet macaque monkey, his name was Barbecue. Can you guess why?Reply
Kiamesha Grier says
Sooo good made these for my mother in law who's Filipino and she said it taste just like home . Will be making these on a monthly basis nowReply
James Andjelic says
Absolutely delicious! What I like about this recipe is that the flavor is IN the meat (not just on it) because you are marinating the pork overnight. When I make this dish again, I won't change anything; what I made looked just like the lady's photos of the skewers. And yes, these Filipino Pork Barbeque skewers are addictive!Reply
German M. Cirujano says
Everyone in the house liked it. My son and my daughter in law just commented that they preferred some charred portions from the skewers similar to the ones they've been used to from street vendors. My grandson loved it too and even his and his younger brother's Yayas. I am preparing a kilo for our pulutan when we(my scooter riding buddies) ride to DRT tomorrow(Sunday).Reply
Nancy Miller says
Thank you for such useful recipe! Few foods are as uniquely American and cross-regional boundaries as does Barbeque. While not universally local food across the United States, it is embraced in many parts of the United States including the Deep South, parts of the Mid-West (St. Louis), and Texas and parts in between. Barbecue is a humble foodstuff that has somehow attained the status of a “Southern cultural icon.”Reply
Jennifer Jay says
I have been looking for a good recipe for Filipino BBQ for a long time now. I've tried many and none came close to what I've eaten at Filipino restaurants. That's until I found this recipe! This is exactly what I've been looking for. My family absolutely love it and they tell me to make more! Thank you Lalaine!Reply
lourdes barajas says
What If I mixed all ingredients same time and put meat in it? Will it taste bad?
Reply
Winston Rañola says
Simple but very memorable when tasted because it brought back my childhood favorites foods.Thank you very much.Reply
Betty Bradley says
Haven’t made this in over 30 yrs and my dear Chinese/Filipino neighbor believes we are serving hot dogs at his up coming 70th bday. Thanks for helping me surprise him!
Navigate🤗Reply
Frank Kolton says
Awww, you sound like a sweet lady and a wonderful neighbor, I bet he was very pleasantly surprised.
I'm trying recipe tomorrowReply
Bea says
Can I omit the 7-up? Or will the taste be altered if I do that?
Reply
Pilar Cruz says
My kids are allergic to oyster sauce. What’s a substitute?
Reply
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