Spanish-style Filipino Cocido with Eggplant Hash and Tomato Sauce
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As Filipino American History Month 2019 this past October was ending, I was honored to be a podcast guest on The Heritage Cookbook Project by Leigh Olson. What a privilege it was to share my mother’s heirloom recipe for Spanish-style Filipino Cocido from my cookbook My Mother’s Philippine Recipes. I enjoyed sharing stories as a Filipino, how I raised my sons in America.
In the podcast, I shared how as a newly-arrived immigrant in the States, I had a hard time finding ingredients to cook classic Filipino dishes. Over 26 years ago, we didn’t have access to Asian or Filipino ingredients that today’s online sources now offer.
Back then, I tried to cook mom’s old recipes which used ingredients that were easy to find in my neighborhood supermarket. One of these was the Spanish-style Filipino Cocido.
Filipino food is usually served family-style at home. Entrées are on large platters and passed around the table. Mom’s Cocido starts with a large ham bone simmered in broth. Then you keep adding the rest of the meats: chicken, pork and beef cuts. Simmer them all together. Season sparingly. The meaty flavors cooking together make the stew rich and tasty. Add the vegetables to the broth at the end. Plate the meats and vegetables beautifully on large bandejados. Serve the clear soup to start, with sides of eggplant hash, homemade tomato sauce and sweet plantains.
This Spanish-style Filipino Cocido defined our Sundays when I was growing up in the Philippines. Our family sat down together after church for lunch to enjoy this multi-course meal. It looked complicated but was actually easy to make by simply boiling it all together. And like all dishes mom made, I recreated this in my American kitchen and served it with love to my family.
*Listen to my podcast stories about growing up in the Philippines and raising kids in America when I was interviewed on The Heritage Cookbook Project Podcast by Leigh Olson. Click here.
Spanish-style Filipino Cocido with Eggplant Hash and Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- Large stockpot: 12 to 16 quarts (for stove-top cooking)
- Instant Pot (or any brand multi-cooker) 6 quarts or 8 quarts
Ingredients
For the meats:
- 1 piece (100 gm). ham bone
- 1/2 pound beef short ribs cut into 2-inch cubes
- 12 cups organic beef or chicken broth (or use water)
- 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 pound pork shoulder or pork loin cut into 2-inch cubes
- 2 pounds chicken cutlets, bone-in, skin-on about 4 to 5 pieces; cut into serving sizes
- 1 whole large white or yellow onion sliced
For the vegetables:
- 2 large Spanish Chorizos or Chorizo de Bilbao sliced
- 4 large potatoes peeled, quartered
- 1 large carrot peeled, sliced
- 1 cup sliced green beans cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 head cabbage cut into wedges
- 1 can (10 oz./297 g.) garbanzos (chick peas) drained
- 4 to 6 pieces boiled banana plantains must be ripe
For Eggplant Hash
- 4 to 5 pieces Asian eggplants boiled, peeled, mashed (or use 1 whole Aubergine)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic about 6 cloves
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper powder
For the Tomato Sauce:
- 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 whole medium-sized white or yellow onion
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 6 to 8 pieces large tomatoes peeled, chopped
Instructions
To cook the meats stove-top: (Option 1)
- In a large heavy stockpot, over medium high heat, combine the ham bone, beef, broth (or water), onion, salt and black peppercorns. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat to a simmer. Continue cooking for 50 minutes till beef is tender.
- To the same stockpot with the ham and beef, add the pork and chicken. Turn the heat up to a medium-high. Cover and let boil. Then lower heat to a slow simmer. Continue cooking till chicken and pork are cooked for about 45 to 50 minutes.
To cook the vegetables stove-top:
- When meats are thoroughly cooked, to the same stockpot, add the Spanish chorizos, potatoes and carrots. Cook for 20 minutes more.
- Lastly, to the same stock pot, add the green beans, cabbage and garbanzos (chick peas). Cook for 8 minutes more. Remove the vegetables from the stockpot and place on serving platter. Cover to keep warm. Set aside. Keep the meats and broth covered to keep warm till ready to serve.
To cook the Eggplant Hash stove-top:
- In a small stockpot, boil eggplants in water for 25 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel then mash. Add minced garlic and vinegar. Season with salt and black pepper powder. Set aside.
To cook the Tomato Sauce stove-top:
- In a medium-sized saucepan, over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Saute the garlic and onions. Add the chopped tomatoes. Stir and cover. Continue cooking for 25 to 30 minutes till tomatoes are soft and mushy. Set aside.
To assemble and serve the Spanish Cocido:
- In a large platter, arrange the meats side by side - nestle the beef cubes, ham bone, Spanish Chorizos, pork and chicken next to each other. If platter has room, place the vegetables next to the meats or else plate the vegetables in a separate dish.
- Separately, ladle the clear, piping-hot broth in a soup tureen, to be served alongside the Cocido platter.
- Serve on the side: The boiled banana plantains, Eggplant Hash and the Tomato Sauce in individual bowls. Serve the Cocido warm with rice. The meats and vegetables are meant to be eaten together with the hash and plantains, and with the tomato sauce drizzled on almost everything in each person's individual plates.
Cook's comments:
- If ham bone is not available, use chunks of cooked ham for the broth.
To cook in the Instant Pot: (Option 2)
- Cook the ham, beef and pork first. Place ham bone in the inside pot. Add the beef and pork. Pour enough broth (or water) to cover the meats. Add the onions, peppercorns and salt.Close and lock the lid. Set valve to Sealing.Click Manual and cook on High Pressure for 50 minutes.When buzzer sounds, do a Natural Release for about 5 minutes.Click Cancel to turn off. Unlock and lift the lid. Set aside lid on a safe place on the counter.Remove the beef and pork. Set aside and keep covered.
- To the same inside pot, where the ham is, add the chicken pieces.Close and lock the lid. Set valve to Sealing.Click Manual and cook on High Pressure for 35 minutes.When buzzer sounds, do a Natural Release for 5 minutes.Click Cancel to turn off. Unlock the lid carefully. Remove the chicken. Set aside and keep covered.
- To the same inside pot, add the Spanish chorizos, potatoes and carrots.Close and lock the lid. Set Valve to Sealing.Click Manual and cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.When buzzer sounds, do a Quick Release. Click Cancel to turn off. Unlock the lid carefully. Remove the chorizos, potatos and carrots. Set aside and keep covered.
- To the same inside pot, add the green beans, cabbage and garbanzos (chick peas). Close and lock the lid. Press Keep Warm for 8 minutes. Cook the vegetables till they soften.Click Cancel to turn off. Unlock lid carefully. Remove the vegetables and ham bone.*Follow same instructions how to plate and serve.
Notes on the Instant Pot:
- It takes about 15 to 17 minutes for the Instant Pot to preheat to High Pressure and for cooking time to begin each time. The keypad will indicate how many minutes are left for cooking. For other multicooker brands, check the manual.For safety: Use accessories recommended for the Instant Pot or multicooker like silicone or metal. Do NOT use glassware. Read manual for complete safety information.
Nutrition
Notes on Nutrition: The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.
Did you like this recipe? I have more Filipino Instant Pot recipes in my newest cookbook Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother’s Traditional Philippine Cooking in A Multicooker Pot by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino. Buy my cookbooks My Mother’s Philippine Recipes and How to Cook Philippine Desserts, Cakes and Snacks and my other books on Amazon.com sold worldwide in paperback and Kindle format.
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Disclosure: Instant Pot is the brand name of a multi-cooker that cooks in high and low pressure. I was not paid by the Instant Pot company to mention the product or brand nor endorse it. This is not an ad. My views and opinions are my own.
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