Everything you want to know about ‘putung babi’’

Mary Ann’s recent article on her quest for hamburgers in the United States elicited a lot of feedback from kabalens (provincemates), not so much on the burger itself, but on the putung babi she compared it with. I had meant to prepare a recipe to accompany it, but due to time constraints, I was unable to do so.

For non-Kapampangans, what the heck is putung babi, you may ask? It literally means "pork bread," and for some strange reason, it never traveled beyond the borders of our province Pampanga. In my hometown Angeles City, it is called palaman, while in Mabalacat where my Darleng hails from (the better side of the tracks, she calls it), and Bamban, it is called putung babi, while in Guagua and Sta. Rita, it’s called torta or pan de carne, and paradadas in Bacolor and San Fernando. But in spite of its varying names and versions, it is the same satisfying all-day comfort snack, sold as street food, served in school canteens or in morning parties, like weddings or anniversaries, and most especially during wakes.

Still wondering what it is? Well, it’s just a pandesal, cut in half, hallowed out a bit, then filled with tortang babi (sautéed ground pork with potatoes, the same used for omelette, relyenong talong, and ampalaya). The stuffed pandesal is then bathed in beaten egg, and then finally pan-fried to a golden brown finish.

My uncle, artist/historian Daniel Dizon, recalls having palaman when he was still in grade school in Angeles in the late 1930s. "Tsa mamera la mu kanita (They cost just one centavo each then)," he says. He adds that in its purest form, the filling consisted only of mashed boiled kamote sautéed in baguk (shrimp paste) and garlic. Why then was it called putung babi by others if it didn’t even have a morsel of pork in it? So, where does the "babi" come in? There’s this theory that it came about because it is made with day-old pandesal, and at the end of each day, the unsold bread was normally fed to the pigs, hence stale bread fit only for pigs. Just leave it to the creative Pampango cooks to turn this day-old bread into a wonderfully delicious snack.

The French has a version for recycling day-old bread called pain perdú, which literally means "lost bread." But hereabouts, which we got by way of the Americans, we know it as French toast. It’s nothing more than a square piece of white bread (again which most Pinoys call Tasty, after the brand, I guess, or pan amerikano), dipped in milk, then in beaten egg, then pan-fried until golden brown. It is eaten much like pancakes with butter and laden with maple syrup or simply dusted with confectionary sugar flavored with cinnamon powder.

Anyway, going back to our putung babi, the filling may vary according to one’s preference. Kamote can be substituted with potatoes, or a mixture of both. In my mom’s house, the tortang babi is mixed with mashed potato to better bond the mixture, instead of just adding diced potatoes, which will make the mixture loose and fall off the pandesal when flipped over. Other versions of the puto/torta have corned beef hash in it. Why not add chorizo bilbao to the tortang babi? Or simply crisp fried bacon bits to the mashed potato as filling?

Tortang Babi

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 kilo ground pork (or beef if desired)

1/2 teaspoon iodized salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup finely diced carrot

1/4 cup finely diced potato

1/4 cup frozen sweet peas

1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper or pimiento

1/4 cup raisins (the last five items can be the main ingredients in lieu of pork if a vegetarian torta is desired.)

Sauté garlic in oil until light brown. Add onions and cook until wilted. Add ground pork until light brown. Season with salt and pepper. Introduce carrots and potatoes and simmer for two minutes. Add the sweet peas, bell pepper, and raisins, and simmer for another minute. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

To make mashed potato:

Wash and peel one kilo potatoes (or kamote or combined). Cut into quarters and place into a pot with two cups water. Sprinkle with one teaspoon salt and boil with pot covered. When cooked, drain water and place two tablespoons butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash with a fork or a slatted masher if available.

At this stage, the cooked tortang babi can be the filling for the puto, or mixed with the mashed potato. This mixture is flexible; add only the amount of torta you wish, depending on how meaty you want it. You can actually extend it by adding more potatoes and vegetables.

Slice into halves some 20 large pandesal. Remove some of its core by pinching it with two fingers. Using a tablespoon, scoop a heaping portion of the mixture and stuff this into the pandesal half. Do the same with the rest.

In a mixing bowl, break six eggs and beat well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat a non-stick pan. When hot, put one tablespoon cooking oil and spread evenly. Dip the stuffed pandesal in the beaten egg one at a time, with the stuffing side down. Then place in the pan and fry till golden brown on both sides. When cooled to room temperature, these can be wrapped in plastic sandwich bags and put in the freezer for storage. Just pull out of the freezer and heat in a toasted oven as needed. Makes for a great snack or baon. Serve with cheese, catsup, or chili sauce.

Variations: The tortang babi is an ulam (viand) in itself, but as mentioned earlier, it can also be used as stuffing for the relyenong talong, ampalaya or omelette. Why not for empanada as well?

And if you want to spice it up a bit, just add to the mixture 1/4 cup tomato sauce (spicy banana catsup works as well) and two tablespoons paprika and continue cooking for another couple of minutes or until it dries out. To serve, place about 1/2 cup of this tortang babi in a bowl, then top it with one cup rice and press. Place an inverted plate on top of the bowl, then turn both upside down. Remove the bowl to expose the mound of rice with torta. Place a sunny-side-up egg on top and slices of fried saging saba. Voilá, you have an arroz a la cubana, Pinoy-style, that is! (According to Larry Cruz, the arroz a la cubana in Cuba is just rice with black beans. They get a good laugh with our version.)

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Another very Kapampangan dish is what we call pistú. Again, this is traditionally served as a breakfast fare especially during weddings or anniversaries. How to do it? Just take the tortang babi, add slices of chorizo bilbao (a modest version uses red hotdog), and cook further with four to six beaten eggs mixed into it. Just before removing it from the pan, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (or grated cheddar cheese). Serve with pandesal and hot chocolate drink (made with carabao’s milk, no less). Happy eating!