I made pork menudo for the first time last night. I was craving for the dish so much it made me finally brave what I thought was such a culinary challenge.

As it turned out, doing so made it a lot of firsts for the amateur cook. I used liver for the first time, and I don't even know if it was chicken or pork. DH came home with the bad news that SW had run out of pork liver, and my first thought was, Paano na ang menudo ko? Good thing there was some in deep freeze, left over from the pancit my BIL made months ago.

It wasn't so bad. It passed my standards at least. It tasted even better the next day. The hubby was not so impressed. When I laid out the bowlful of annatto oil-colored feast in front of him, he said, "Asan yung sabaw?" It was a legit question, and I can explain! I should have turned down the heat after boiling the meat. For next time, that is a noteworthy reminder. After all, I had fantasized of a little saucy-ness myself.

The key to good menudo, though? Don't leave out any of the ingredients and stay as fresh as you can afford to be! I think the bell peppers, the liver, the chorizo bilbao, the carrots, potatoes, chickpeas and raisins (another first) were all key to creating that explosion of flavor. After surfing food blogs post-dinner though, I've decided to soak the pork overnight in a lemon juice-soy sauce marinade for next time. That should be more interesting.

Gee. Madali lang pala. One blogger suggests using the ready-made mix to make sure the experiment would really taste like it should. I was almost tempted but immediately thought cheating on my first try would not leave me too happy about myself. Besides, it wasn't I who did the groceries for this particular number >:)

You just need to be OC and a little patient with the prep. I got through mine entertaining my LO, who was observing me a few feet away from her high chair.

And here I thought it was a beef dish all this time. Hahaha. Seriously.

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