The Menudo Story of my Life

My wife and I once went on a trip to her hometown of Talavera, Nueva Ecija, to secure an original copy of her birth certificate. At the same time, this trip was also a good way of introducing me to her relatives who were not able to come to the wedding. The most hassle-free way of getting there was by riding the Baliuag Transit bus to Cabanatuan.

So there we were ready to traverse the three-hour-long bus ride. By lunchtime, the bus stopped at its San Rafael bus station so that passengers can grab a bite to eat and to pick up a few more passengers. For a bus station in the province, one cannot expect to find fast-food joints like Jollibee or Chow King, which could have been places for speedy short orders. We had no choice but to dine at this small carinderia that had a very long line of hungry customers. And wait we did.

Finally, after 15 minutes in line we managed to find a table, trying to concentrate on finishing as fast as we could while the bus driver was still in sight. Noreen had menudo while I stuck it out with longsilog, believing that the silogs would probably be cleaner than the cooked viands behind the glass counter that could have been sitting there since early that morning.

And how wrong was I! Noreen glowed on the first bite of the menudo. After a few more spoonfuls, she urged me to try it. I refused a couple of times, but she just wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. The first taste was bewilderment, the second bite was realization, and the third was sheer delight. Of all the places, I never thought I would find the best menudo ever in a small carinderia in the middle of nowhere.

Their menudo was so good that I took the same trip a month later and made sure that I had a little chitchat with the cook. The person responsible for the menudo was a 50-ish woman of short stature. Aling Nene, as she is known, got her cooking skills from her mother. Because cooking is her bread and butter, it took a whole lot of convincing for her to share her recipe with me. I actually had to miss my bus and wait for the next one, which came three hours later, just so I could get her to show me how she prepares it. When time came that she to whip up another kawa [large wok] for the next batch of hungry travelers, I was standing in her kitchen watching her cook.

In the spirit of the holidays, let me share with you this special menudo recipe, to which Noreen had made some modifications for my less-purine dietary requirements. So, here goes:

Ingredients
½kg menudo-cut pork (available in most groceries)
1 can potted meat
2 medium-sized potatoes, diced
1 medium-sized carrots, diced
3 to 5 cloves of garlic
I small onion bulb, chopped
3 pieces calamansi (Philippine lemon)
2 slices cheese, diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
a pinch of pepper
salt, as preferred

Procedures
1. Marinate the pork in soy sauce and calamansi (Philippine lemon) for at least 15 minutes and set aside.

2. Dice the potatoes and stir-fry till golden brown. Then dice the carrot and stir-fry for three minutes or less, making sure that the carrots are not overcooked. Set aside potatoes and carrots.

3. Sauté the garlic then add the chopped onion. After caramelizing the onions, add the tomato.

4. Add the marinated pork to the pan. Cover and simmer under low fire until meat is tender.

5. Add the potted meat.

6. While the whole thing simmers and the potted meat dissolves, add the cheese.

7. Add pepper to taste before serving. The whole recipe can serve four people.

This is not you usual menudo with tomato sauce. Serve this dish for your Noche Buena (Christmas Eve dinner) or your Buena Noche (New Year’s Eve dinner). I hope you enjoy this dish!

Notes from the chefs
Through experimentation, Noreen recommends that you use Armour potted meat (the US brand) for best results. But the Philippine brand Reno will work okay too, if you want it a bit saltier.