Sauteing vegetables and incorporating them in the meatloaf will remove their excess moisture, preventing the embutido becoming soggy.
Use of ground pork produces a flavorful, juicy embutido.
I still recall the sense of unease I felt whenever a slice of cold embutido–Filipino-style pork meatloaf filled with sweet relish, raisins, hard-boiled eggs, and ham or sausage–was put on my plate at any party. As a child, I wasn’t a big fan of cold meat, especially when it was filled with raisins and relish. When I learned to cook and grew older, I began to enjoy and appreciate embutido’s many flavors and textures.
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In Spanish, “embutido” is sausage and can be used to describe any kind of sausage. The Filipino embutido was not a product of Spanish colonization, but rather a result of the introduction of canned food to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Canned hams, Vienna sausages and corned meats became popular and highly valued. They eventually found their way into a Filipinized meatloaf – the classic American dish – which is still called “embutido”, despite the fact that the cylindrical shape of the loaf resembles a sausage.
It used to be common to begin the assembly of an embutido by placing a layer (known in Filipino as sinsal) of caul fat. Caul is a web-like fatty coating that surrounds organs on animals such as cows, pigs and sheep. Today, the most common way to wrap an embutido is with aluminum foil or banana leaves. You can use either one, but you will need to fill it with ground meat mixed with finely diced vegetables, sweet relish and raisins. Then, roll it into a log. After the embutido is rolled up and wrapped, it’s cooled and cut into slices. It can be eaten cold, hot, or even fried.
Much like a meatloaf, embutido is very customizable. When I was growing up, the embutido was very dense, had raisins and was served cold. In my version, I use shredded cheddar for creaminess and added sweetness, instead of raisins or relish. Chinese sausages (rather then Vienna sausages, Filipino hotdogs, etc.) are used for their sweet salty flavor that goes well with other ingredients. You’ll find many recipes calling for baking the embutido. I tried both methods for this recipe. The texture is smoother when steamed, but I prefer the lighter texture and deeper caramelized taste of the baked embutido. This version of embutido is served with fragrant jasmine and a sweet-sour sauce.
Recipe Facts
Prep:
30 minutes
Cook:
2 hrs and 20 mins
Total:
2 hrs. 50 mins.
Serves:
6
Eight servings
Rate and Comment
Ingredients
Sweet and Sour Sauce
Light brown sugar, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (85g).
Cane vinegar, 3 tablespoons (45ml), (see note).
1 tablespoon (15g), banana ketchup
Use 1 teaspoon (3g), Diamond Crystal kosher Salt; use table salt in the same amount or half by volume.
Fresh red or green Thai chilies, stemmed and seeded.
Embutido
Grease spray pan
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon (15ml).
13 medium cloves of garlic (65g), minced
Finely chop 1 medium red onion (about 225g; 8 ounces).
One large yellow bell pepper (about 200g; 7 ounces), seeded and finely chopped
Peel and grate 2 medium carrots (about 170g; 6 ounces), using a box grater with large holes.
Ground Pork 1 Pound (455g).
6 ounces shredded medium cheddar cheese (1 1/2 cups; 170g)
3 ounces panko breadcrumbs (1 1/4 cups; 85g)
2 large eggs (100g), beaten
Use 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce (30ml).
Fish sauce, 1 tablespoon (15ml).
Freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon (3g).
Soy sauce, 1 tablespoon
Use 1/2 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal kosher if you want to use table salt.
Cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
5 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 links (95g) Chinese sausage (see note)
White rice cooked for serving
Directions
To make the Sweet and Sour Sauce, in a small bowl whisk together the sugar, vinegar, salt and chiles.
Embutido: Set oven rack in middle position. Preheat oven to 375degF. Cooking spray can be used to grease an 18-by-24-inch sheet of aluminum. (You can also use two slightly overlapped 12-by-24 inch sheets of aluminum). Set aside.
Heat oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Stirring occasionally, add the garlic, carrots, bell pepper and onion. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until they are soft and golden brown. Remove from heat, and let cool for about 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine pork, cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs, oyster sauce, fish sauce, black pepper, soy sauce, salt, cayenne, and cooled vegetable mixture. Mix thoroughly with your hands or a silicone spatula. This should take about 3 minutes.
Position the aluminum foil on a surface with the longer side parallel to the edge. Use your hands to shape the rectangle into an 8 by 15 inch size. Place the eggs in the middle of the rectangle horizontally, in a single row. Place sausage links in a horizontal line above the eggs.
Then, using the longer edge closest to you to lift and roll the foil, fold the meat over the sausages and eggs to enclose them in the center of the embutido. Roll the embutido using foil, lifting and rolling it to form a tight, rolled log. Wrap aluminum foil tightly over embutido and fold the ends. Wrap embutido tightly with aluminum foil and fold in the ends.
Transfer the embutido onto a wire rack placed in a baking sheet with a rim. Bake until the juices escape from the foil and caramelize onto baking sheet. The internal temperature should register 165degF on an instant read thermometer. This will take about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Transfer the embutido onto a cuttingboard and leave it there until it is cool enough to handle. This should take about 20 minutes. Cut the embutido into slices of 1 1/2 inches thick and remove the aluminum foil using a sharp knife.
Transfer sliced embutido to a large serving platter. Serve immediately, with rice and sweet-and-sour sauce.
Special Equipment
Wire rack, instant-read temperature thermometer, rimmed baking sheet.
Notes
You can find it in Asian and Filipino markets as well as on the internet.
You can find banana ketchup in Asian and Filipino markets as well as on the internet. You can use tomato ketchup if you cannot find banana ketchup.
You can find Chinese sausage in Asian markets or online.
Make Ahead and Storage
You can make the sweet and sour in advance, and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Embutido is easily made ahead and can be refrigerated or frozen up to a month. To freeze an entire embutido follow the recipe up to step 7. Allow it to cool down to room temperature and then wrap in aluminum foil. Thaw before reheating. To reheat embutido in the microwave, slice it, remove the aluminum foil and heat gently.
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