I feel pretty comfortable calling this my favorite Filipino food, although it’s a close tie between this and Pancit. It is officially my favorite favorite when it is made in that hot little kitchen half way up a bumpy mountain road by the CSC aunties, because never once did I eat a better tasting Filipino Humba than the versions from each of the orphanage houses. Humba is really similar to pork adobo, but there’s frying involved. And pork belly. AAHHH! SCARY!!! Yes, I know how you feel. It’s unfamiliar to Westerners (except, um, bacon?) and therefore it can be a little intimidating to either buy or eat. But once you get the I’m-scared-of-pork-belly drama out of the way, you can understand this: pork belly is intensely juicy and delicious like no other meat and you should not substitute anything for it if you’re making Humba that you want to taste amazing. The CSC aunties’ Humba was so juicy, 100% fall-off-the-bone tender, and just completely saturated with rich, sweet flavor. In that pot we’ve got the fried pork belly, a sweet and salty sauce that wants to be soaked up by steaming white rice, pineapple, black beans, and green onions. You can kind of see through the progression of pictures that by the end, this meat is like a deep caramel golden brown. That, my friends, is the color of delicious. My most beloved Humba recipe (although not the one used for this post) was given to me by one of the house fathers, Tarex. I’m pretty sure he noticed me harassing everyone for their Humba recipes and either wanted to help me out and/or put an end to the Humba recipe obsession. So one day when I was in the kitchen, he grabbed the only piece of paper he could find laying around which was obviously was totally crumpled and covered with crayon kid scribbles, and transcribed his own personal Humba recipe over the scribbles for me. It’s hanging on my fridge and it represents for me the crazy sweet intersection of food and life and CSC. ♥ And just in case you need to watch an awesome video of my favorite kids in the world getting ready for their first day of school. 5 from 10 reviews Which, you do.
