Tocino Burger
Caramelised Pork Burger with Fried Egg and Atchara
What is Tocino?
Tocino is a Filipino style of caramelized, sweet cured bacon. This dish is popular with +Silog breakfasts or brunch and typically served with garlic rice, salad, atchara (pickled veg) and fried egg on the side. It’s a must have in our home!
Tocino is a Spanish word for bacon. The Philippines love pork and tocino is one of the breakfast favourites eaten with fried eggs and garlic rice known as ‘Tocilog’ (toss-i-log). In the UK we also love pork and we eat bacon either as part of an English breakfast / fry up or in a sandwich / bacon butty. So similar concepts to +silog breakfast/brunch but with different types of meat or salted fish.
Tocino is normally cured for a few days but if you can’t wait that long, like me, you can marinate overnight too! But the longer you cure the pork the better and tender it will be.
The way tocino is cooked, I think is pretty unique, you first boil it with some water then add oil to fry it until the sugar caramelizes. Click here for the classic Tocino recipe
This recipe I made is a twist on a classic tocino recipe. My family loves burgers so I thought…why not make Tocino into a burger! It was perfect and my family loved it.
Swap It or Common Questions
Brioche Buns – I used brioche buns but you can use any buns available to you or any classic burger buns with sesame seeds. I personally love brioche bread that’s why I used it for this recipe.
Annatto Powder – this is commonly used as a natural food colouring, it does have some kind of peppery taste to it but it’s not necessary to add. If you can’t find any annatto powder you can use an orange food colouring. I bought my annatto powder from Chinatown, you can also get them from Earls Court, there are 3 Filipino shops there and you can also go to Wing Yip.
Toppings – I added lettuce and tomatoes but you don’t need to add these. You can add anything you like!
Cheese – I used an American cheese, you can swap it with any mild cheese you like. Note that if you use cheeses like blue or stilton it will change the flavour significantly.
Banana Ketchup – this is a classic Filipino condiment, I know for some this might be a little odd, however you can also use tomato ketchup too. I bought my Banana Ketchup from Chinatown, you can also get them from Earls Court, there are 3 Filipino shops there and you can also go to Wing Yip.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a container or sealable bag, add all the ingredients, mix them all together making sure that the meat is mixed well with all of the ingredients. Seal the bag or container and put it in the fridge to marinate for 2 hours or overnight. The longer you marinate the pork the better it tastes!
Take the pork out of the fridge, mold each patty into a ball weighing 80-100g each then slightly flatten them and place it on a plate. Do this until all of the minced pork is done. Set aside for later.
Using a frying pan, heat it on medium heat, once hot, gently add the minced pork and flatten it using a mortar. Make sure the bottom of the mortar is flat and not hollow. Cook the patty until each side is golden brown, next place the cheese on top of the patties and cover it for about a minute. Take the cover off and take the patties off the pan. Place them on a plate or directly on your burger. Fry your eggs and set them aside.
It’s up to you how you assemble your Tocino Burger. I toasted the buns first before assembling my burger. At the bottom bun, I added a lettuce, next a slice of tomato, one tocino patty, next is one tablespoon banana ketchup, then second tocino patty, then one teaspoon atchara, next is a fried egg and topped off with a sprinkle of crispy garlic before finishing with the top bun.
You can build yours the same as I did or you can do it your own way. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
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