Slow Cooker Filipino Pork Menudo

When I have a party in which my guests are expecting Filipino dishes, pork menudo is what I serve together with chicken adobo and pancit (noodles).  It is a tomato based dish and is usually prepared with pork.  Tomato sauce is customarily used but in this recipe I utilized the combination of catsup and tomato paste.  I usually add ham and if I do not have that I use hot dog which I did with this recipe to give it a smoky flavor.  I consider menudo the Filipino version of the cassoulet.  Vegetables like potato, carrots, green and red pepper are also added.  I added chick peas when I prepared it today and would have also added raisins but my son-in-law who is coming to dinner is not very fond of them. 

My daughter, her husband and my granddaughter are coming for dinner and I know that with church, my Sunday lunch out with my husband, getting new tires installed for my car and grocery shopping, I will be too tired to prepare something before they come .  I have been very satisfied with the results of using the slow cooker with three other Filipino dishes, Beef Caldereta, Pork Filipino Barbecue and Chicken Afritada, all of which are found in this blog that I decided to try using my trusty Aroma brand rice cooker/slowcooker to cook menudo today. So while I was doing all these activities, the Pork Menudo was cooking in my slow cooker. 

Once again, it was a successful experiment.  The slow cooker did a wonderful job cooking a classic Filipino dish.   The Pork Menudo got a thumbs up even from my picky husband and son-in-law both of whom are not Filipinos. 

Slow Cooker Filipino Pork Menudo

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork butt, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 hot dog cut into 1/4 inch long pieces (or ham especially the bones if you have them)
• 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 cup catsup
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tbsp peppercorn
• 1 green pepper, cut into strips
• 1 piece roasted red pepper, or 1 fresh red pepper cut into strip
• 1 can garbanzo beans, washed and drained
• 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water (optional)
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook for 8 hours at low or 4 hours at high setting.  I cooked mine for two hours using an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker using the slow cooker setting.  Serve with rice.

Today, I also served with this dish Pad Thai but any other Asian noodle dish or Filipino pancit will be a good accompaniment to this robust and delicious dish.