Nilagang Pata is a simple Filipino soup dish involving pata or pork hocks. This is also known as Pig legs. Unlike crispy pata, this soup recipe requires the leg to be sliced crosswise – similar to that of paksiw na pata.
I find Nilagang Pata comforting, especially when I have it during extremely cold days. I eat this with warm white rice with a dip of spicy fish sauce. One word of caution though for those of you who like pork fat; I know that the fat is somewhat tempting to eat, but please try to limit your intake to a minimum for your own good.
In the recipe below and in the cooking video, you will see that I am using beef stock. This is just an optional ingredient that I added to make the soup more flavorful. You can still make your own nilagang pata without it. You can simply use water alone, or probably add a piece of beef or pork cube or a teaspoon of beef powder. It will also save you time if you use pressure cooker to cook the pork hocks. As for the vegetables, do not limit yourself to pechay or bok choy. You can add cabbage and Calabaza squash (kalabasa) if desired.
Try this Nilagang Pata Recipe. Enjoy!
- Serves: 4
- Serving size: 4
- 2 lbs. pork hock (pata), sliced
- 5 cups water
- 2 cups beef stock or beef broth (optional)
- 1 large bunch of baby bok choy or pechay
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorn
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (patis)
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 large potato, cubed
- 4 pieces ripe saba bananas, sliced
- Combine water and beef stock. Bring to a boil.
- Add the onion, peppercorns, and pork hock. Simmer for 60 minutes or until the pork hock becomes tender. Add more water if needed.
- Put-in the potato and saba banana. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the fish sauce and baby bok choy. Stir. Turn the heat off and cover the cooking pot. Let is stay for 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a serving bowl.
- Serve. Share and enjoy!
Watch the cooking video
