Chicken and Pork Hamonado with Pineapple: Instant Pot + Stove-top

In Philippine cooking, hamonado comes from the word "ham", which is meat that is cured with sweet and salty seasonings. I cooked this classic Filipino dish this time as Chicken and Pork Hamonado with Pineapple. The addition of hefty pork belly cubes to the chicken stew made it a superb entree. This was cooked in the Instant Pot. The meat was tender and juicy cooked in the sauce flavored with pineapple juice and chunks. This recipe was inspired by the Celebrating 100 Years of Cooking with Nestle (Philippines) Cookbook and a previous Asian in America recipe. Serves 2 to 4.

*I offer two alternative ways to cook this dish: In the Instant Pot multi-cooker or on the stove-top.

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Asian, Filipino

Keyword: Filipino Chicken Pork Hamonado Pineapple

Servings: people

Calories: 844kcal

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on about 4 pieces
1 pound pork belly fat trimmed, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 can (8 ounces) canned pineapple chunks reserve the pineapple liquid for marinade
1 cup pineapple juice
1 teaspoon Maggi seasoning
2 Tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
1 Tablespoon calamansi juice (or use lemon juice)
2 cloves garlic peeled, minced
1 teaspoon paprika powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper powder
1 small red or green bell pepper sliced into strips; seeded
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil to brown the meat
boiled rice for serving

Instructions

To marinate chicken:

In a large, non-reactive bowl, marinate the chicken and pork with the pineapple juice from the can, Maggi seasoning, patis (fish sauce), calamansi juice, garlic, and paprika. Blend well. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or up to overnight.

To cook in the Instant Pot:

Select Saute to pre-heat the inside pot. After 1 to 2 minutes, when the inside pot is hot enough, add the vegetable oil.
Add the chicken and pork. Brown the meat for 5 minutes till light brown. Turn the pieces with a long turner or tongs.
Click Cancel to turn off the Saute function.
Add the brown sugar over the meat. Pour the additional 1 cup pineapple juice and the chicken broth.
Season with salt and black pepper.
Close and lock the lid. Set the valve to Sealing.
Press Manual and cook on High Pressure for 25 minutes.
When buzzer sounds to announce cooking is done, do a Natural Release. When the float pin drops, it is safe to unlock the lid. Open the lid carefully.
Add the pineapple chunks and the sliced bell peppers. Stir around to blend with ingredients.
Return the lid and lock in place.
Press Keep Warm function and continue cooking for 5 minutes so pineapple and peppers blend with the ingredients and flavors set in.
Press Cancel to turn off. Unlock and open the lid. Serve the Chicken and Pork Hamonado warm with rice.

To cook stove-top:

Marinate the chicken and pork pieces with marinade ingredients as instructed above.
In a large stockpot, over medium high heat, add the oil. When oil is hot enough, add the meats. Cook for 5 minutes to brown the pieces.
Pour the pineapple juice and broth. Season with salt and black pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat for 50 minutes till meats are cooked completely.
Add the brown sugar, pineapple chunks and bell pepper slices. Stir and blend with ingredients. Serve the dish warm with rice.

Notes on the Instant Pot

After the initial Saute function, it takes about 17 minutes for the Instant Pot to preheat before the High Pressure cooking time begins. For other multi-cooker brands, please consult the product manual.
For safety precautions, use only accessories recommended for the Instant Pot - like metal or silicone. Do not use glassware. Please read the manual for complete safety instructions.

Cook's comments:

If preferred, you can also substitute 1 cup fresh pineapple cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 1 cup freshly-pureed pineapple juice for this recipe in place of the canned fruit and juice.

Nutrition