He first visualized the taste in his mind, then the look on the plate. Next, Boni Pimentel blended spices for that lingering aftertaste. Then he went to work.
The result? Adobong Bagnet with Sugpo at Taba ng Talangka.
While it may sound too rich and too intense, with heart-attack-inducing flavors, Pimentel’s stewed dish is nonetheless a uniquely delicious experience.
“I just thought of mixing all the good stuff in one dish,” says Pimentel, owner of Ilustrado Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila. “It’s perfectly matched with a heaping mound of steaming hot rice or garlic rice.”
Pimentel says he got the inspiration for his adobo on one of his trips to Pampanga, when he tasted adobong lechon kawali with taba ng talangka (crab fat).
He thought of recreating the dish, but this time using Ilokano bagnet for a tastier bite, then cooking it adobo-style with the usual vinegar, soy sauce, pepper, garlic and bay leaf. He mixed it with prawns and finished it off with taba ng talangka for a richer crustacean relish.
“I know it’s very rich, but you can enjoy it once in a while,” says Pimentel. “It’s like eating bagnet. You don’t eat bagnet everyday. Same thing with lechon.”
With the addition of crab fat and bits of garlic, the adobo sauce comes out thick and orangey in color.
As is done in Pimentel’s restaurant, the bagnet is marinated for 24 hours in sukang Iloko, pepper and garlic, then boiled the following day with the marinade.
After the marinade is disposed of, the meat is half-roasted and left in room temperature. The bagnet is then sliced into chunks and fried to perfection whenever an order is placed.
For the adobo, the bagnet used is precooked while the sugpo is pre-grilled, seasoned with just salt and pepper.
The clincher is the addition of crab fat, which just melts into the rest of the sauce.
“I always want some combinations in my pork adobo,” Pimentel adds. “So I added sugpo for those who do not eat pork. Everybody loves prawns.”
Bestseller
Pimentel’s adobo was an instant hit among friends and family, which gave him the idea of including it on his restaurant menu. It has become one of the resto’s bestsellers.
Even his foreign guests look for his adobo.
The taba ng talangka is available in major supermarkets; Pimentel gets his stash of bottled crab fat from the food stalls in Market! Market! in Taguig.
Don’t get the salmon-colored ones; get those with oil that looks more orangey in color, because it has the real taste of taba ng talangka.
Pimentel, who hails from Pangasinan, grew up eating the typical adobo with spices and seasonings. But he preferred his adobo dry. So, he would cook his own version of adobo, marinating the liempo or pork ribs in vinegar and seasoning overnight.
He would then boil the meat the next day, fry the meat separately with more garlic to keep the powerful aroma and flavor of the garlic intact, and simmer it with the marinade until totally reduced.
“I want it nagmamantika na,” says Pimentel. “I really love to eat and cook. For me, if you love to eat, cooking will just come naturally. And exposure to different kinds of food will help you a lot in preparing good food in the kitchen.”
“I get to visualize the food and imagine the taste even without tasting the actual food. It’s all because of exposure,” he adds.
Hands-on experience
Pimentel started Ilustrado in 1989 with wife Rose. Neither of them had any professional culinary background, but they learned the rudiments of running a food business on the job. Now,
Pimentel is assisted by children Betina, Beatrice, Bernice and RJ.
When Rose died four years ago, Pimentel became both father and mother to his children: doing the groceries; getting the fresh produce from the wet market for the family’s meal; preparing the week’s lunch and dinner menu for the house help to follow.
The family eats breakfast and dinner all together at home. On Sundays, Pimentel makes sure every member of the family is complete for lunch or dinner after he plays golf in Alabang.
He cooks mostly on weekends. The children love his kalderetang baka, baked bangus belly (flavored with calamansi, garlic, soy sauce and leeks) and adobo. Pimentel pairs his adobo with fried fish.
“My children love everything I cook for them. They like it when I cook, because they know they will have a good meal,” says Pimentel.
Adobong Bagnet with Sugpo at Taba ng Talangka
Bagnet:
- 1 kg pork belly
- 1 c vinegar (white)
- ½ c fish sauce
- 1 whole garlic clove
- 10 pcs whole black pepper
- 3 pcs laurel leaf
- Vegetable oil
Marinate pork belly in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, laurel leaves and pepper for 30 minutes to a full hour. (Depending on your flavor profile, the more flavorful you want it to be, the longer the marinade should stay.) Drain and set aside. Slice into pieces. Fry the pork belly in a pan on high flame.
Adobo:
- ¼ c vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ c vinegar
- ½ c soy sauce
- ½ tsp black pepper, cracked
- 2 pcs laurel leaf
- 1 c chicken stock (or 1 pc chicken cube)
- 8 pcs sugpo
- ½ c taba ng talangka
- 3 pcs sili sigang
Sauté garlic in oil until brown. Add the slices of bagnet. Then, add remaining marinade, soy sauce, vinegar, laurel leaves, peppers and chicken stock. Lower the heat and simmer until pork is soft and tender (about 45 minutes to, roughly, an hour). Add sugpo. Cook for about five minutes. Do not overcook the sugpo. Add the taba ng talangka and sili sigang. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Ready to serve. Serves four.
E-mail the author at vbaga@inquirer.com.ph.
PHOTOS BY ANDREW TADALAN