This simple, no-frills Filipino pork barbecue recipe has no special ingredients, just pantry staples for that truly authentic Filipino flavor. Perfect for all your summer get-togethers and special celebrations throughout the year!
(Love Filipino food? Explore Filipino cuisine and find your new favorite Filipino dish!)
Pork barbecue always makes an appearance at celebrations like Christmas and New Year’s Eve, is a favorite dish at potlucks, and a staple at beach parties and picnics.
Every family has its own pork bbq marinade recipe and this is ours.
Hope you like it as much as we do!
Let’s get to it.
Why you’ll love pinoy bbq
- Simple ingredients. No oyster sauce or Worcestershire sauce or other special ingredients in this recipe. Just Filipino pantry staples like soy sauce, brown sugar and black pepper.
- Make-ahead. Marinade the meat the day before, grill when you’re ready!
- Easy to customize. Taste the marinade and adjust to your liking. Too salty? Add more sugar. Needs more balance? Add more calamansi juice. You can also use the marinade for other types of meat like chicken.
- Delicious! Most important of all, it’s delicious! Simple recipe, amazing flavors.
How to make
There are 3 parts to this recipe: the pork, the marinade and the basting sauce (optional but highly recommended).
Ingredients
You’ll need pantry staples like soy sauce, black pepper and brown sugar. Some things to remember:
- Pork — we’ve found that the best cut of meat to use for Filipino pork barbecue is pork shoulder or pork butt. They have enough ribbons of fat but not too much, like pork belly. On the other hand, pork loin or pork tenderloin is too lean and will result to dry barbecue.
- Wild chilies — wild chili is the English name for siling labuyo. We add up to 8 pieces of chopped wild chili to our marinade but you can lessen or add more to your preference.
- Calamansi juice — we use 100% calamansi juice from a bottle. If you can get fresh calamansi juice, so much better! Just remember not to use calamansi concentrate, extract or sweetened calamansi juice.
- Banana ketchup — for the basting sauce, you’ll need banana ketchup, sometimes called banana sauce.
Tools
We use bamboo skewers but if you have those metal, reusable kabob bbq skewers, you can use those as well.
We also use a propane grill. But we used a small electric grill for a long time and that worked very well too.
No grill? You can simply fry the marinated pork. It will still be delicious.
Instructions
In a large bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Then add the pork, toss to coat, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
When ready, if using wooden skewers, soak them in water at least 30 minutes before grilling. Preheat grill to medium-high and start to thread the pork into the skewers.
Grill then flip and baste the cooked side with sauce. When both sides are cooked, remove from heat and enjoy!
Expert tips
Easy, right? Here are more tips for excellent pork barbecue filipino style every time.
- Pick the right cut of meat. The cut of meat you use is as important as your pork barbecue marinade. You want meat that’s fairly fatty, but not too much. And you want to stay away from lean cuts of meat. You won’t go wrong with pork shoulder or pork butt sliced into thin, 2-inch pieces.
- Taste the marinade. When putting together your marinade, taste it before putting the meat in. That way, you can make adjustments to your liking.
- Marinate overnight. Don’t skimp on the marination! The longer the meat marinates, the more the flavors come together.
- Wet the bamboo skewers. To prevent them from burning on the grill, soak your bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before using them.
- Preheat your grill. Much like an oven, make sure to preheat your grill so the meat cooks quickly and evenly.
- Don’t over-cook. Pork barbecue cooks fairly quickly (depending on your grill, it can range from 3-4 minutes per side to 5-8 minutes per side) so watch them closely to prevent overcooking and burning.
- Use basting sauce. While this is optional, it is highly recommended! Not only will it give your barbecue an added depth of flavor, it will give them a nice mouthwatering glaze too.
Recipe FAQs
For best results, choose a cut of pork that has a fair amount of fat and lean meat, like pork shoulder and pork butt. Avoid cuts that are too fatty, like pork belly; or cuts that are too lean, like pork tenderloin.
To make the basting sauce, boil ½ cup of the marinade for 10 minutes then add ketchup and oil.
Simmer for a few minutes until incorporated.
Strain into a container to remove the scum and set aside until ready to use.
We usually combine vinegar, soy sauce, siling labuyo, garlic, red onion and a little bit of sugar. We don’t have specific measurements; everything is to taste.
Looking to serve pork barbecue at your next get-together?
They go really well with pancit canton, Filipino spaghetti, carbonara, brazo de mercedes and turon.
Java rice, garlic rice or nasi goreng kampung (Indonesian fried rice) would be awesome, too!
Add a side of refreshing Greek cucumber salad or try this delicious KFC coleslaw recipe while you’re at it.
More recipes for your grill
If you’re grilling all day every day this summer like us, try these other delicious recipes:
Are you looking to grill chicken? Try Lebanese shish tawook or these 4 ingredient teriyaki chicken skewers.
We hope your family enjoys this Filipino barbecue recipe as much as we do!
Enjoy with a cold bottle of San Miguel or serve Cuba libre if you’re feeling fancy. Happy grilling!
Did you make this Filipino-style pork bbq skewers? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave a comment or a star rating below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!
You can also find me on Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube.
Simple Filipino Pork Barbecue
Ingredients
- 4.4 lbs pork shoulder or butt sliced into 1-2 inch pieces
Barbecue Marinade
- 1½ cups soy sauce
- 1½ cups brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup calamansi juice
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
- 4-8 pieces wild chili or siling labuyo chopped, adjust to taste
Basting Sauce (optional but highly recommended)
- ½ cup barbecue marinade
- ¼ cup banana ketchup
- 1 tsp oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the marinade ingredients.1½ cups soy sauce, 1½ cups brown sugar, ¼ cup calamansi juice, 2 tsp ground black pepper, 4-8 pieces wild chili or siling labuyo
- Add the pork, toss to coat, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.4.4 lbs pork shoulder or butt
- When ready, if using wooden skewers, soak them in water at least 30 minutes before grilling.
- Preheat grill to medium-high and start to thread the pork into the skewers.
- Grill then flip and baste the cooked side with sauce.
- When both sides are cooked, remove from heat and enjoy!
- To make the basting sauce, boil half a cup of the marinade for 10 minutes then add ketchup and oil.½ cup barbecue marinade, ¼ cup banana ketchup, 1 tsp oil
- Simmer for a few minutes until incorporated.
- Strain into a container to remove the scum and set aside until ready to use.
Video
Notes
- The total yield depends on the size of your barbecue pieces and how many you thread per skewer. This recipe can yield 20 to 25 sticks of pork barbecue. The estimated nutrition information is based on 20 skewers.
- We use 100% calamansi juice from a bottle. Don’t use calamansi concentrate, extract or sweetened calamansi juice.
- See post for more tips and FAQs.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
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