What are some of your favorite dishes from your hometown or province? Across the country there are a myriad of cuisines that exist which you can sort by region, town, or city. For instance, the Bicolanos’ renowned coconut milk-filled cuisine is to die for. Who can forget Ilocanos’ delicious and flavorful meat? And, of course, it’s hard not to love the Kapampangan’s love for spice. Across the country, different dishes are native to certain parts, of which its people are most proud. And the people of Lucban have much to celebrate in this delicious and filling hardinera.
Whether you call it jardinera or hardinera, the pronunciation of this dish remains the same. As do its flavors –– bold and bright, this delicious treat is a hodgepodge of different ingredients that fit together in miraculous perfection. Hardinera is Lucban’s own response to meatloaf with its own twist; in fact, many refer to this dish as a mix of meatloaf and another popular food, menudo! That’s right: all the flavors you know and love in a good menudo are available here, in a compact Ilanera.
Some refer to hardinera as “grocery meatloaf” due to the number of ingredients you can find in this dish. Indeed, this meatloaf’s flavors are complex for a reason; from pork to hotdogs, liver spread to pineapple chunks and more, hardinera has it all. Its long list of ingredients exceeds that of embutido’s and any other meatloaf variation there is. It’s no wonder this dish is such a treat at fiestas, family gatherings, and even baptisms. Wherever there’s a celebration, hardinera is sure to be around, too!
What makes hardinera different from embutido?
Many ask about the difference between these two classic dishes –– and for good reason! One look at the descriptions and visuals will tell you that they are quite similar. But a few things set hardinera apart, not just from embutido, but from other meatloaves, too.
Not only are there vastly more ingredients in hardinera than in embutido as we mentioned prior, but the presence of an Ilanera is a key difference. The egg you add to the bottom of the Ilanera ties all the ingredients of your hardinera together –– something your embutido doesn’t have. Furthermore, instead of being ground up, most of the ingredients in hardinera are diced and chopped. This makes your end product a lot less compact, but thicker and chunkier.
Embutido is generally the more popular meatloaf of choice in Filipino households. But you can’t discount the delicious and delightfully complex flavors of a great hardinera! If you have meatloaf in your house often, why not switch up the variation? While others may complain about the tedious process, cooking hardinera without a problem comes easier than you think. You can even try it with pork giniling!
But if you’re looking to see how to cook one of the easiest and most faithful to the original renditions of hardinera, read on to find out how!
How to Make Hardinera
Let’s make hardinera together! There’s a long list of ingredients you have to prepare, so it’s best to get those out of the way before you start cooking. Dice a medium sized onion, as well as half a cup of beef franks or hot dogs and a pound of pork. Be sure to mince 3 cloves of garlic, too. Grate a quarter cup of cheese, then slice or wedge 2 pieces of hard boiled eggs.
Prepare the rest of the ingredients. These include 2 cups of cooking oil, 1 cup of water, half a cup of tomato sauce, and a quarter cup of sweet pickle relish. Also involved are a quarter cup of raisins; half a teaspoon each of salt and ground black pepper; half of a beef cube; 1/2 cup of pineapple chunks; a quarter cup of roasted sweet pepper and liver spread; and half a cup of bread crumbs. Lastly, beat 2 pieces of raw eggs –– and get ready to start cooking!
To begin, pour 2 cups of cooking oil in a pot and sauté your garlic and onions. Add in your diced pork, and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. After putting your beef cube, water, and tomato sauce in as well, bring your hardinera to a boil. Let this combination simmer until your pork is as tender as you like. Your liquid should evaporate completely, too. Once both requirements have been met, set your dish aside and let it cool.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine your cooked pork, salt, ground black pepper, and beef franks. Your bread crumbs, liver spread, and sweet pickle relish go in, too. Don’t forget to add your pineapple chunks, raisins, and cheese! Incorporate all these ingredients together, mixing them well.
Grease an Ilanera then add in your sliced eggs and roasted sweet pepper. Pour about half of the beaten egg mixture in, ensuring that the eggs coat the bottom of the pan entirely. Add your pork mixture in, scoop by scoop, until it occupies at least ¾ of the total volume. When you’ve finished your mixture, cover the Ilanera with aluminum foil.
In your steamer, pour in at least 6 cups of water. Arrange the containers inside the steamer and let steam for about 50 minutes. When that time is up, your hardinera is supposed to be fully cooked!
Transfer your hardinera to a serving plate. If you want it cold, keep it inside the refrigerator for a few minutes to let it cool down. But if you enjoy this dish warm, well –– there you have it! Your hardinera is ready!
Share and enjoy this dish with the rest of your family. You don’t have to wait for a fiesta to come along to dig into this filling and flavorful meal. Let us know what you think of this hardinera!
Hardinera (Jardinera) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 medium sized onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb pork diced
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 1/2 cup beef franks or hotdogs diced
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 beef cube
- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
- 1/4 cup roasted sweet pepper
- 1/4 cup liver spread
- 1/4 cup cheese grated
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 eggs hard boiled, sliced or wedged
- 2 eggs raw
Instructions
- In a cooking pot, add cooking oil and sauté garlic and onions.
- Add the diced pork and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Put-in the beef cube, water, and tomato sauce then bring to a boil. Simmer until the pork is tender and the liquid completely evaporates. Set aside and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked pork, salt, ground black pepper, beef franks, bread crumbs, liver spread, sweet pickle relish, pineapple chunks, raisins, and cheese.
- Mix all the ingredients until everything is well incorporated.
- Grease a llanera and arrange the sliced eggs and roasted sweet pepper.
- Pour close to half of the beaten egg mixture and ensure that the eggs are well distributed on the llanera.
- Scoop the pork mixture in to the llanera until it occupies at least 3/4 of the total volume.
- Cover the whole llanera with aluminum foil.
- Pour at least 6 cups of water in the steamer. Arrange the containers in the steamer and steam for 50 minutes.
- Remove the steamed mixture from the llanera and transfer to a serving plate.
- Serve either hot or cold. Share and enjoy!
Alex says
Here is an alternative cooking method which is the traditional way :
With the same ingredients simmer the pork in large chunks (like 1/3 or 1/4 kilo per piece)
When tender, let cool completely or refrigerate.
Drain the sauce and cut the pork into cubes.
Return the meat into the sauce and put the other ingredients.
Let the mixture cool and put beaten egg to the mixture. This ensure it will not crumble during plating.
Instead of Breadcrumbs you may add roux ( butter flour and chicken stock) to the mixture for moisture.
Shienna says
This is a famous dish during fiestas in Luisiana,Laguna and Lucban Quezon.It always has a space on the table.We usually hire someone to cook them for us.It is very delish! I would like to try this recipe.As far as I can remember they use mushroom soup (powdered ones) to make the sauce thicken a bit.
jenny says
hi, i’ve been watching “panlasang pinoy” since august and quite got interested since then, thanks for sharing us ur recipes. my hubby n 2 kids love ur recipes it suits their taste.
my birthday is coming this nov. n planning to make hardinera, can i substitute chicken breast instead of pork? thank u n more power!!!
mamagph says
Try doing it from scratch… roast sweet bell peppers over low fire just like what you do to eggplants for Tortang Talong… once roasted, put inside a container and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for a while… the accumulated moisture will make peeling of the roasted skin easier… I’ve done this method ever since for recipes requiring roasted peppers and I can say its aroma is much better than canned ones… Hope this helps.
Vanjo Merano says
Sir Lito, huwag nyo pong isipin yun. Ang mahalaga ay napapakinabanggan natin itong ating munting proyekto. Good luck po sa bago ninyong trabaho.
Hanah Christine T. Brown says
Thank you for the new recipes ..i will try hardinera soon.
ramie says
magkano naman presyo kung ibebenta?
Peng2018 says
How many llanera did you use for 1 pound of pork?
Marissa says
This is my first time to hear about this recipe “Hardinera”, and when i watch it i was really impressed, i will surely try this and make the family experience the taste of this special recipe. Thank you.
Lianne Generoso-Villaran says
I tasted hardinera during the Pahiyas Festival last year. My mother so loved it she made her own experiments. Her finished product actually tasted more like glorified embotido but very tasty nonetheless. I will certainly try your recipe for our fiesta next month. Thanks for the post!
Rowie Porteous says
This is my first time to hear of Hardinera and boy, it looks so yummy, can’t wait to try it.
ziggy says
this is a real challenge. i can’t believe this wasn’t featured on TV before. this dish is awesome!
anne says
like the stuffing of galantina!