''Humbà'', also spelled ''hombà'', is a Filipino

braised Braising (from the French word ''braiser'') is a combination-cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats: typically, the food is first browned at a high temperature, then simmered in a covered pot in cooking liquid (such as wine, broth, coco ...

pork dish from Visayas, Philippines. It traditionally uses pork belly slow-cooked until very tender in

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

, vinegar,

black peppercorn Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diamet ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

, and

fermented black beans ''Douchi'' () or ''tochi'' (also known as fermented black soybeans, Chinese fermented black beans (), salted black beans, salty black beans, or just black beans) is a type of fermented and salted black soybean most popular in the cuisine of ...

(''tausi'') sweetened with '' muscovado'' sugar. It also commonly includes hard-boiled eggs and

banana blossom A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distingu ...

Origin

''Humba'' is derived from the Chinese

red braised pork belly Red braised pork belly or hong shao rou () is a classic pork dish from mainland China, red-cooked using pork belly and a combination of ginger, garlic, aromatic spices, chilies, sugar, star anise, light and dark soy sauce, and rice wine. The p ...

( Hokkien ; also known in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

) introduced to the Philippines via Hokkien immigrants, but it differs significantly from the original dish in that Filipino ''humba'' has evolved to be cooked closer to Philippine ''adobo'', using a lot more vinegar. ''Humba'' also does not traditionally use

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermented and distilled from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch that has been converted to sugars. Microbes are the so ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, chilis, or five-spice powder; and it commonly use additional ingredients like banana flowers or pineapples, which are absent in the original dish. Regardless, traces of its Chinese origin is still evident in the primary use of

(''tausi''), an uncommon ingredient in native Filipino cuisine. Humba is likely precolonial in origin and its precursor variant and ingredients were likely brought to the Visayas by Chinese traders from Hokkien.

Description

The defining ingredient of ''humba'' is the

(''tausi''), without which it is basically just a slightly sweeter Philippine ''adobo''. Like ''adobo'' it has many different variants, but it is relatively easy to prepare albeit time-consuming. The most basic ''humba'' recipe uses fatty cuts of pork, usually the pork belly (''liempo''). It is marinated in a mixture of

, vinegar,

, and

s. The pork is then sautéed with the garlic. Once the meat is half-cooked and lightly browned, water is added with the rest of the ingredients along with fermented black beans and ''muscovado'' sugar (or some other sweetening agent).

Banana blossom A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distingu ...

s may also be added. It is then allowed to simmer for a few hours until the meat is very tender. Alternatively, it can be cooked in a

pressure cooker Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which c ...

to cut down the cooking time. Hard-boiled eggs may be added before serving. It is eaten with white rice.

Variants

''Humba'' can sometimes be prepared with chicken, in which case it is more or less identical to Philippine chicken ''adobo'', except for the use of ''tausi''. It can also be prepared with pineapples as the sweetener, which again makes it very similar to another Filipino dish, the ''

hamonado ''Hamonado'' (Spanish: ''jamonado''), or ''hamonada'', is a Filipino dish consisting of meat marinated and cooked in a sweet pineapple sauce. It is a popular dish during Christmas in Philippine regions where pineapples are commonly grown. ''H ...

''. A similar dish to ''humba'' is ''

pata tim ''Pata tim'', also spelled ''patatim'', is a Filipino braised pork hock dish slow-cooked until very tender in soy sauce, black peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and star anise sweetened with ''muscovado'' sugar. It also commonly includes '' pé ...

'', which is also derived from Chinese

. But ''pata tim'' does not use vinegar or ''tausi'' and primarily uses pork hock with ''

péchay Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi ( British English) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have ...

'' and mushrooms.

Cultural significance

The Humba is known as the main delicacy of the town of Ronda in the province of Cebu. Every year, the town holds the Humba Festival to promote the local cuisine of the town. The festival is also considered a religious festival and is celebrated around the feast day of the town's patron saint, Our Lady of Sorrows, which falls on September 15. During the festival, there are Humba cooking contests and religious dance offerings in honor of the

Blessed Virgin Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. This is generally a week long affair and all activities are aimed at promoting the Humba of Ronda. This festival is one of the activities of the tourism program done to promote the town of Ronda and the town's special Humba.

Origin

Description

Variants

Cultural significance

See also

References

Further reading