When you have a specific dish in mind, it’s important to choose the right cut of meat to go with it. How do I make the perfect pork adobo? Can I roast a tenderloin? Robina Farms Premium Fresh Meat offers whatever you need to get creative in the kitchen. But with so many different cuts available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. To help you choose the right cut of meat for your chosen recipe, here’s a handy guide with a few suggestions to get creative with your pork dish.

KASIM

The kasim is one of the most common and versatile cuts of pork. It’s a tough cut with layers of fat and “litid”, making it ideal for slow cooking, but suited for most pork dishes. Cuts from the kasim are most commonly used for adobo, menudo, and sinigang. 

Recipe Recs: Get creative with your pork shoulder by roasting it whole on a low heat for a long amount of time. With layers of fat keeping it moist, and cooking it low and slow will allow the flavors to seep in, resulting in the perfect roast for pulled pork.

TENDERLOIN

From the same area as the pork loin, the tenderloin is the most tender of all cuts from the pig.

It is also the most mild in flavor because of how lean it is, and benefits from lots of seasoning.

It’s best cooked and treated like steak - grilled, or pan-fried.

Recipe Recs: Make an alternative to chicken fingers by breading and frying tenderloin strips and pairing it with honey mustard dip, or use it as a substitute for beef in a garlicy salpicao.

RIBS

This is the row of bones surrounding the loin. Those located closer to the belly are the ribs while those closer to the backbone are the more tender baby back ribs. Because this meat is close to the bone, it is very flavorful on its own, and is best enhanced by the smokey and charred flavors when you barbeque it.

Recipe Recs: Put a unique spin on barbecue ribs by adding coffee grounds into your dry rub.

LIEMPO

A definite crowd-pleaser, the liempo or pork belly is the fattiest cut with alternating layers of meat and fat, making it the most flavorful of the pork cuts. It can be used interchangeably in dishes with the kasim if you want a more flavorful and fatty pork dish.

Recipe Recs: Level up the classic liempo by rolling whole pork belly into a log and filling with aromatics to make the Italian roast pork dish porchetta. This method distributes the flavors more evenly throughout the meat, and creates a juicy roast with uniform layers of fat and a crispy skin.

PIGUE

Kasim’s leaner brother, the pigue is the second most versatile cut of pork. It can be used in any of the same dishes as the kasim, if you want a leaner cut of meat, and again is best for slow cooking. The pigue is also where we get the ham.

Recipe Recs: Put a spin on your basic adobo by adding gata and allowing it to cook down to a thick sauce.

PATA

The underrated pata is a cut that can actually be used for the wide variety of dishes that otherwise require the general-purpose cuts. While it is not fatty, it gets tons of flavor from the layers of skin and litid surrounding it. It is commonly used for crispy pata, and the braised pata tim. 

Recipe Recs: Pata slices can easily sub for cubed meat in pork nilaga or sinigang. Deboned and chopped, it’s actually the best substitute for the hard-to-find maskara for sisig.

We hope this has inspired and prepared you for your next trip to the supermarket. Remember, any dish is best when you use the highest quality meat. Robina Farms Premium Fresh Meat is available in Robinsons Supermarkets nationwide.