Crispy Pata Recipe

It's 3Pm in the afternoon and food is still clinging on my mind. there's 1 recipe that my late grandfather use to cook during fiesta. His ever famous Crispy Pata!!!

Preparation & drying: 4 hours to 1 day

Estimated cooking time: 20 minutes

Crispy Pata Ingredients:

·    1 Pata (front or hind leg of a pig including the knuckles)

·    1 bottle of soda (7Up or sprite)

·    1 tablespoon of salt

·    2 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)

·    1/2 tablespoon baking soda

·    1 tablespoon of monosodium glutamate (MSG)

·    4 tablespoons of flour

·    Enough oil for deep frying

·    Enough water for boiling

Crispy Pata cooking instructions:

·    Clean the pork pata by removing all hairs and by scraping the skin with a knife. Wash thoroughly.

·    Make four to five inch cuts on the sides of the pata.

·    On a deep stock pot, place the pata in water with soda and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the baking soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

·    Remove the pata from the pot and hang and allow to drip dry for 24 hours. An alternative to this is to thoroughly drain the pork pata and refrigerate for a few hours.

·    After the above process, rub patis on the pata and sprinkle flour liberally.

·    In a deep frying pot, heat cooking oil and deep fry the pork pata until golden brown.

Crispy Pata Dip Sauce: 

Mix 3/4 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 head of diced onion and 1 hot pepper. Salt and pepper to taste.