Smoked Pata Adobo

This is yet another version of adobo.

My dad has a specialty dish of half-grilled pata (pork hock) cooked into paksiw. As I was not looking forward to a sweetish dish, I chose to cook the pata into adobo. In my dad’s version, he would grill the pata till the skin has charred and make this into paksiw. This time I smoked the pata first, using guava leaves on top of the coals. Since I read Market Man’s adobo cooked in a palayok (claypot), I got inspired to use a claypot I onced used during a food festival. It has been languishing in the office for a few years already and just need a good wash. We bought pata slices, smoked them, and mixed with the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and lots of pepper. I omitted laurel or bay leaves as I want the smoke flavor to dominate the adobo.

Smoked Pata Adobo

1 kilo pata slices
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce

lots of garlic, chopped
lots of pepper, crushed

Over live coals, place fresh guava leaves. Place your griller a few inches on top of the coals and arrange the pata slices. Cover the surface of your griller to contain the smoke. I used banana leaves for this. Replenish the guava leaves when they burn out. Smoke each side for at ten minutes. Arrange pata slices on a pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Add enough water to cover the meat, bring to a boil and simmer over low fire for at least two hours or until the pata is very tender.