humba

plural humbas · alternative hong ma · alternative hongma

1. uncountableusuallyA Filipino braised pork dish from the Philippines especially popular in the Visayas, traditionally made with fatty cuts of pork belly slow-cooked until very tender in soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and fermented black beans (tausi) sweetened with muscovado sugar, and also commonly including hard-boiled eggs and banana blossoms.

   There’s no need to make adobo first to taste a delicious humba!

   2021 August 6, Roselle Miranda, “Ulam Recipes: How To Transform Pork Adobo Into Humba”, in Yummy.ph, Mandaluyong: Summit Media, archived from the original on 07 Aug 2021

   4 more examples

   A most sought-after “correct” humba has the skin jelly-soft, with the fork-tender meat swimming in its own fat.

   2014 November, Claude Tayag, Mary Ann Quioc, “Humba: Braised pork”, in Linamnam: Eating One’s Way Around the Philippines, 2nd edition, Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing, →ISBN, “Central & Eastern Visayas” section, page 178

   On the a la carte menu are braised pork shank with pineapple-soy sauce, humba and several pansit-based dishes.

   2020 November 6, Pamela Silvestri, “Taste the Filipino flavor rainbow — right here on S.I.”, in Staten Island Advance, Staten Island, N.Y., →OCLC, page A8, column 3

   Maria Polotan’s Humba / “I learned how to make humba from my mom, who learned it from her mom. My mom came from Visayas in the Philippines, where the dish is really popular.[…]”

   2022 November 6, Briony Smith, “Off the menu: Toronto chefs find a new way to feed their clientele with food-delivery app Cookin”, in Sunday Star, Toronto, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, page TO2, column 3

   Commonly used as a dipping sauce or marinade, it [toyo] enhances various dishes like bistek tagalog and pork humbas.

   2024 October 30, “10 Must-Try Fermented Foods in the Philippines”, in Newport World Resorts, Newport City, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2025