Filipino BBQ Marinade

Captain Butler, my one and only, is half Filipino.  Growing up, his father always cooked for the family and made them meal after meal of delectable indigenous dishes such as Adobo, Pancit, Chicken with Sweet Peas and the occasional blood pudding… which everyone swears was fabulous.  I have tried my hand at a few but know I will never be able to match his prowess in the Filipino inspired kitchen.  We have a picture of him in our kitchen and I know he has brought me good luck through my cooking adventures.  I would have absolutely loved to know him.

Since I know anything with the flavors of his youth will make him happy, even if they have been slightly modified by his all American woman, I just had to make this recipe.  The recipe I started out with comes from one of my favorite blogs, written by someone that just happens to be Filipino!  Ivory Hut posted this recipe for a BBQ marinade and made it with chicken legs and actually barbequed them.  I’m patiently waiting for the wind/snow/slush/rain/hail mixture that is plaguing my neighborhood to subside before I crank that baby on so I needed an indoor solution.  I got this awesome Ron Popiel rotisserie from my Grandma Ginna and felt deep, deep in my bones that it was the way to go.  I could have done a whole chicken but decided that a pork loin might just be a little better...

The recipe call for marinating the meat for 3 hours but I let it sit overnight. I didn’t have Sprite so I used Fresca and it turned out great.  I love using Soda in marinades.  All those chemicals really break down the meat.  Knowing this should make me quit the Coke Zero but….lets get back to the recipe.   Right before we popped the loin in the rotisserie the Captain came up with the nifty idea to cut slits on both sides of the loin to let the marinade seep deeper in and provide us with more crispy outer pieces.  I will be implementing that step earlier on next time I make this recipe.

These are the cuts that Captain Butler made... we stuck pieces of the garlic from the marinade between the slits.

 This is the almost finished product... look at all those yummy crispy pieces...

           This is it!  Smelling wonderfully of pork, vinegar and garlic before it sits for 10 minutes to rest.

You could use this marinade for a lot of things. I will be making it to BBQ Chicken when our weather finally warms up.  It would be yummy with beef kabobs.  It would be great for any game since the vinegar/ soda combo tenderizes the meat.

The Captain loved it and so will you.

The Marinade:

1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

½ Cup Sugar

3 Torn Bay Leaves

¼ Cup Soy Sauce

3 Smashed Garlic Cloves

1 Tbsp Pepper

1 Can Sprite