What is the recipe for the traditional Filipino street barbeque on a stick?

Dear Filipino,

I was in the Philippines in about 1976. Everywhere in the streets, there were people selling the most delicious beef or chicken barbeque on a stick. I want the recipe please. I've tried the recipes on the Internet and it just wasn't the same. I even asked  Filipinas going home to visit family to try to get the recipe but no success. As you can see, it's been 35 years and it's still on my mind. You are my last hope. I promise if you do, I'll tell everybody, "The Pinoy is JEFROXS."  LOL!

Rob Bob, AZ

Dear Rob,

You mean "Jeproks" as coined by Mike Hanopol? You mean "cool and smart"? Hey, actually I wouldn't mind being called Jeproks -- just don't call me "laki sa layaw"!  ;-)

Unfortunately, I don't have the recipe myself -- I was just a toddler in 1976. But I don't give up that easily if the label "Jeproks" is on the line.  So I reached out to The Man -- Ray Gingco of WokwithRay.net -- for help.  He's a great cook and 1976 is one of his favorite years because it's "the year of platform shoes and ultra wide bell bottoms."

Ray published a recipe last year for traditional street Pork BBQ on skewers, but he said the recipe can also be used for chicken and beef.  He suggests top sirloin for beef and chicken thighs for chicken.  I'm reproducing his recipe below for your benefit, but you may want to visit his website to really learn from The Master himself if you have other questions. 

Pork BBQ with Banana Ketchup Glazing
by Ray

This dish is very easy to prepare and best eaten with a concoction of vinegar and garlic dipping sauce. Some folks like to eat this delicious barbecue with pickled shredded papaya (AKA achara) on the side. During my high school days in the 70′s, I can still remember this dish being cooked and sold by street vendors right outside the gate of our school. Pork BBQ is always the best seller along with deep fried vegetable lumpia (eggrolls), and ukoy (shrimp fritters).

Here in the States, I always buy the meat from Asian Supermarkets because I can always ask the nice guy behind the meat counter to slice the pork to the right thickness. So, when I get home, all I have to do is cut the meat to correct width for threading. Of course I can slice the meat myself but if someone else can do it for me and it’s part of the price of the meat. . . why not? Always use pork butts because it’s more tender and it has the right amount of fats, which gives the BBQ the best flavor. By the way, in case you are wondering. . . Pork Butts is not actually the ass of the pig. Okay, I shouldn’t be saying ass here, oops my bad, I said it again. They call it butts because it is the butt end of the shoulder.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Pork Butts
10-15 Bamboo Skewers
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
6 cloves Garlic – finely minced
3 tablespoon Lemon Juice
3/4 cup 7-Up or Sprite Soda
2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
3 tablespoon Sugar
2 teaspoon Rice Wine or Dry Sherry
2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 cup Banana Ketchup for Glazing
2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Cooking Directions:

If you bought a whole pork butts, slice it by 1/4 inch thick then cut each slice about 1 inch wide strips.

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, garlic, lemon juice, soda, Worcestershire, sugar, wine, and black pepper then mix them with a whisk.

Add the meat and mix thoroughly until well coated.

(Source: WokwithRay.net)

Transfer meat and the marinade in a Ziploc bag then refrigerate for about 4 hours.

Soak skewers in water for about 1 hour before using.

Thread meat on a skewers

Prepare basting sauce by combining Ketchup and oil then mix well with a whisk.

Set the barbecue grill to medium.

Grill the meat turning every minute so it won’t burn.

When meat is half-way cooked, start brushing the meat with ketchup mix on every turn.

Serve hot with rice or with BEER! (hehehe).

Serves 4 to 6.  Preparation time including marination: About 4 hours & 30 minutes.

Hope this works for you!

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