Pita Bread with Pork Barbecue Skewers and Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Pork barbecue skewers are very popular street food in the Philippines. You usually see groups of people huddled in front of the grill patiently waiting for their turns to get their freshly-grilled skewers. In ordering, you have to stash away your greed for the moment because ordering a big number at the same time (like 20 skewers and there is obviously just you who will deplete them) will guarantee bad looks from the co-buyers around you. The trick to have a smooth time with everyone is to order 2 or 3 skewers at a time, ok, maybe 4 but 5 is already pushing it! These skewers can be addictive and you can easily spend an hour hanging around the grill while continuously putting your orders and waiting along with the others. They are great to eat when they come straight from the grill so taking it easy is the best way to enjoy them with a very cold bottle of Coke. Oh yes, now we are seriously speaking Filipino street food!
Since food cravings attack any day of the year without respect to the right season, sometimes, I can have a major pork barbecue skewer craving attack in the middle of winter. And when it does happen, I just take out my griddle and cook away. The smoky flavor is not there but the meat remains tasty and soft especially when you eat them when they come straight from the griddle.
A true-blue pork barbecue skewer in the Philippines would have fat in the middle and at the end of the skewers so that they won't come out too dry. Marinades are trade secrets and they vary from one vendor to another. The main ingredients would always be soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper, Sprite (yes, that Sprite that you drink!) and some put ketchup and sugar. Maybe I will share with you a genuine Filipino pork barbecue skewer recipe next time but for now, let me show you this version I made that went well with slow-roasted tomatoes that I used as fillers in the pita bread.
These pork barbecue skewers are reminiscent of the street food favorite but I omitted the fat and the marinade is different. Since I rarely use vinegar in cooking at home because my daughter and husband will camp out of the house if I do (sigh, sensitive noses!), I have already replaced vinegar with lemons when the recipe needs an acidic agent. I made my marinade super simple (no Sprite too!) but to make the meat really tasty, you have to marinate them for a long time. In my case, I usually leave them in the fridge for 24 hours.
The slow-roasted tomatoes will definitely catch your attention because they too, are very tasty. As fillers, both meat and tomatoes are quite explosive together. Believe me, it is genuinely wow. Prepare your slow-roasted tomatoes in advance because it takes about 3 hours to cook in the oven. Make a big batch and store them in the fridge. They are great when they are mixed with pasta or just on the bruschetta. You can enjoy them in so many ways. For the meantime, let's remained focus on this Pita Bread with Pork Barbecue Skewers and Slow Roasted Tomatoes that I made for She Knows. If you liked my recipe, then you might want to check out my other recipes at my Profile Page there. Enjoy!
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