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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from Philippines

Tocino (Philippines)tocino

Thin slices of pork are mixed with salt, curing salt, a lot of sugar, anise wine, garlic and often pineapple juice and red colouring, then cured for hours at room temperature or a day or two in the fridge before frying. It is a sweet cure, not a true ferment, though lactic bacteria have been reported in it. Made in 4 steps over 7.3 days – 4.1 months. The longest step, pack and keep cold, takes 7 days – 4 months (Department of Agriculture). Salt is 1.2 % (Department of Agriculture).

Key numbers
Main step7 days – 4 monthsSet[ati-bai]Pack and keep cold
Salt1.2 %Set[ati-bai]Mix with the curing mix and seasonings
Fully documentedMeat7.3 days – 4.1 monthsMore meatMore from Philippines

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are for 1 kg of pork in the pure tocino recipe of the Bureau of Animal Industry's Animal Products Development Center, as reproduced by the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Training Institute; it yields 1.25 kg.
1000 gPork ham (pigue) or picnic (kasim), or cuts with some fat[ati-bai]
12 g (1 tablespoon)Refined salt[ati-bai]
½ teaspoonCuring salt · Printed as 20 g; the sausage recipes on the same sheet give 2.0 g for ½ teaspoon[ati-bai]
3.0 g, dissolved in 62.5 g waterPhosphate[ati-bai]
90–120 g (9–12 tablespoons)Refined sugar[ati-bai]
24 g (2 tablespoons)Anisado wine[ati-bai]
64 g (¼ cup)Pineapple juice[ati-bai]
11 g (1 tablespoon)Garlic, chopped[ati-bai]
2.0 gMonosodium glutamate[ati-bai]
As desiredFood colour[ati-bai]
Starternone (sweet cure); lactic bacteria reported

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.3 days – 4.1 months

Start
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What changes: The pork is trimmed and cut into thin slices

Step 1 of 4
Trim and slice the pork
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: thin pork slices.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Tocino is cured with a lot of sugar for only hours to a couple of days and then fried, so it is a sweet cure rather than a ferment. Longganisa uses a similar cure but is stuffed into casings.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Burong baboy (Kapampangan)Pork simmered for hours and then left at room temperature to sour; this account is not backed by a cited source.

Safety

Tocino is always cooked before eating. The government recipe allows curing at room temperature for only 8–10 hours; after that it must be kept in the fridge for up to a week or frozen.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Tocino is the Spanish word for bacon. Kapampangan cooks call it pindang.

  1. [ati-bai] Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Training Institute (Cordillera), How to make fresh native sausage and pure tocino, from the Bureau of Animal Industry Animal Products Development Centergov
  2. [tamang2016] Tamang J.P., Watanabe K., Holzapfel W.H. 2016, Review, diversity of microorganisms in global fermented foods and beverages, Frontiers in Microbiology 7:377paper
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, Tocino (name and Kapampangan variant only)wiki