Vegan Tofu Humba with Potatoes

Humba is a Filipino dish made with melt-in-your-mouth braised pork in savory, sweet and, sour sauce, bay leaves, whole peppercorns, banana blossoms, and salted beans.

Pork Humba hailed from the Visayan Islands, Philippines. This popular must-try regional dish is believed to be an adaptation of Pork Hong-ba or Red Braised Pork Belly that was brought to the islands by Chinese Immigrants.

The recipe evolved by replacing some of the ingredients with locally available spices such as salted beans or tausi and star anise in place of the Chinese five-spice. Since the latter is now available locally, I typically use it in creating Humba (but I forgot I had some that day). Hence I'm noting it as an optional spice in the dish if you have five-spice powder available in your cupboard.

The five-spice mixture is a blend of finely ground cloves, fennel, star anise, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns. You can try making your own. Here's a helpful DIY recipe.

I'm going to re-create this dish using Tofu instead. In case you don't like tofu, you could also experiment with any plant-based meat alternative and incorporate them with the sauce. I've tried using meat magic but it ended up absorbing the sauce. It was a trial and error at first but this version eventually ended up becoming a habitual recipe that we enjoy at home.

My family and I are not a fan of salted beans for several reasons. Firstly, I find them too salty. Secondly, following the first reason, we're carefully monitoring our blood pressure (Haha, mid-life problems), and biting into them is a sensation I don't enjoy, so I've omitted it in the dish I made.

Lastly, another valid reason was I ran out of stock. I was feeling lazy to drive to the center of town just for that particular ingredient. Hence I'm tagging it as optional in my version but if you want to get close to it as being an authentic Humba, feel free to put in tausi.

You'll also notice that I love using pineapples in many of my dishes such as Sweet & Sour Tofu because I find the layer of sour and sweetness of pineapples an interesting flavor to add. It creates a playful taste to the tongue.

I get really messy during the food prep given our über-tiny kitchen but let's begin. Keep calm and let's cook!

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Directions:

Add vegetable oil to the pan. Fry the tofu cubes until they're all golden on all sides. Once they're done, set them aside and allow the kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil.

Fry the potato cubes in the same pan or wok and season them with salt and pepper. Once they're cooked, set them aside in a similar manner as the tofu.

In a pot, add the oil and saute the minced garlic on medium heat. Once it turns slightly golden, add the onions.

Saute the onions along with 2 bay leaves. Allow it to be aromatic and let it cook until onions are soft.

Pour the sugar cane vinegar, soy sauce, pineapple juice. Add the whole peppercorn. I prefer freshly ground black pepper to avoid biting into them. It's up to you which one suits your palate. Add the star anise, banana blossoms, sugar, and pineapple chunks. Season with salt as needed.

Once the sauce boils, smile and throw in the fried tofu and potatoes. Lower the fire and let it simmer for ten minutes.

Serve it on top of rice et voila!

In case you're trying to avoid rice, here's an idea, try it with a Japanese cucumber salad. Cucumber cut into small cubes drizzled with Kewpie Sesame Dressing (vegetarian), or you can create your own plant-based sesame dressing version.

Although the texture of tofu will never be comparable to the authentic braised pork version, Humba pops up regularly on our family's weekly menu.

Check Out Previous Tofu Recipes:

Vegan Green Curry with Chayote
Sweet and Sour Tofu Vegan Recipe

Will Humba be a dish you'd like to try?
Thank you for reading and wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

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