Our Version of Tortang Kapampangan

Growing up in Pampanga (a province located in the Northern part of Philippines), one of the home-cooked dishes that I love eating is Torta.  It is a dish made of ground pork cooked in calamansi (our local lemon) and soy sauce.  But when I moved to the city to work, I learned that "torta" to the city folks meant something that is like an omelette.  The ground pork recipe that they are familiar with is cooked in tomato sauce (which I would always see at our cafeteria).  I tried cooking this kind of dish before but I still prefer our Torta.

I am not a food history expert to claim that this is an original Kapampangan dish.  But I would like to call it Tortang Kapampangan because this is how we prepare our ground pork.  I also wrote "Our Version" because this is how we prepare it at our home.  I am sure that each Kapampangan household would have their own take on this recipe.

I like cooking this pork dish because it is an easy and fast recipe.  Plus it can be served in various ways.  When we have it at home, we eat it as it is on the first day.  On the second day, you would see it as a filling in an omelette and on the third day, it is used for Tortang Talong (talong means eggplant) as seen in the photo below.

Image from this site

And it is toddler-approved too!  (Woohoo!)

Hope you like it too!  Happy Cooking!  

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground pork

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

Garlic, chopped

Onion, chopped

1 medium-sized Tomato, chopped

1 large Potato, Cubed (you can also add carrots and green peas if you like)

Salt and Pepper to taste

*Eggs - can be done 2 ways (please refer to the cooking directions below)

Cooking Directions:

1.Combine the lemon juice, soy sauce and ground pork and let it simmer until the meat is tender.  

2, Fry the potatoes and carrots and set it aside.

3. Saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes.  Mash the tomatoes as it softens.

3. Add the boiled meat and mix everything together. Add the potatoes (and carrots) and let them cook.  This may only a take a few minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Eggs - As I've mentioned, you can do it two ways.  You can beat one or two eggs and mix them with the meat (in medium heat).  OR you can just boil quail eggs and put it on top of the dish.

Mangan tana!  (Let's eat!)