Slow Cooker Filipino Pork Talunan or Pork Defeated

I follow my cravings for dishes from my childhood in deciding what to cook for the day.  There was something about this dish that was calling me.  I remember the strong ginger and salty taste but had no clue how to make it.  I searched the web for the best recipe to match what I think would be close to what I crave.  I came upon the Luto Ni Lola website.  I was pretty surprise the blogger is from my hometown Malabon, Metro Manila.  

This dish holds many memories.  Our father who handled the grocery shopping and meal planning rotated different dishes.  I went home one day from high school to see my late brother Anton eating this dish for lunch.  I felt bad for two reasons, he just got defeated in his bid as a young high school freshman to represent his class in the student council election.  He was quiet and laid back but had this charismatic personality at the same time that made him likeable and popular.  I, her older bossy sister, who was a senior then, urged him to go for it when he was nominated.   I even wrote his speech! But Mildred his opponent who was equally popular and perhaps more ready won.  I felt bad when I saw him at lunch because he was eating this dish which is called Talunan,  the Tagalog word for Defeated.  Ouch.  It was just coincidental.  When I told my mother about his defeat, my mother was upset that I pushed him to run. She felt he was too young to experience defeat.  That was how protective and loving my mother was.  Little did she know then how resilient and strong my brother would be when he would be battling cancer for 7 years later on in his life. She would have been in awe like we all were.

Going back to Talunan, the Luto Ni Lola blogger explained the name.  He told the tale that the roosters that lost in the Filipino gambling game, cockfighting, usually ended up being the meat used for this dish, hence the name. Instead of chicken, I decided to use what I remember the meat the Talunan dish I ate the day my brother was defeated.  I recall it was either pork or beef.  I opted for the former since I just bought 2 or more kilos of pork loin from the Sam's Club.

This dish turned out to be a cross between two popular Filipino dishes, adobo (except without the soy sauce) and tinola (stew cooked with ginger).  Instead of the soy sauce, patis or fish sauce was used.  It was addictive due to the intoxicating combination of the saltiness of patis, the ton of garlic used, the ginger and vinegar.  Was it what I was craving?  Almost.  What I remember was the one I wanted did not have the pickle taste that this dish had from the vinegar.  But it was still awesome, I veered from my plant based diet because it is so hauntingly good. You would want to raid your fridge to eat it for breakfast.

Here is the easy recipe.

Slow Cooker Filipino Pork Talunan or Pork Defeated

(Adapted from Luto Ni Lola)

• 3 lbs pork loin, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup distilled vinegar
• 8 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp ginger, peeled, crushed and julienned
• 1 tsp peppercorn
• 4 pieces by bay leaf
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (patis)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker.  Cook for 3 hours at high or 6 hours at low setting.  I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker at slow cooker setting for 2 hours.  Serve over rice. (Caution the sauce is a rice guzzler).