Inasin (Salted Pork)

Inasin (salted pork for sale at the Bontoc Public Market) photo by Mariciel Fulangen Ballast, 2003

Mmmm…salty fatty pork!  Ever had one of these in your dish?  It’s a delicious flavoring to a delicacy in Bontoc known as “pinikpikan.”  Before I get to the pinpikpikan, I want to talk about inasin.  I’m no expert in the process of making this type meat because I have not ever done it myself.  However, I’ve seen some people do it.  It’s a simple process of preserving the meat, only this particular type is specifically used for the pinikpikan dish.  First, the pork meat is rubbed with a ton, and I mean, a ton of salt.  The salted meat is then stored in a tub for a couple of weeks perhaps while being periodically rubbed with more salt.  Then the meat is taken out to dry (some folks smoke the meat from what I hear) and then sold to the meat-eating public.  I personally would not eat inasin by itself.

Now to the pinkinpikan…the basic ingredients to this dish are chicken (prepped in a particular way so as to achieve the desired meat taste), inasin (salted pork), water, and a veggie (usually chayote or green veggie such as pechay).  The way the chicken is prepared is not for the faint of heart.  The chicken is slowly beaten on the neck until it dies.  The slow beating allows for the blood to coagulate making the meat fuller and a little more tasty.  Afterwhich, the big feathers are plucked and the rest are subjected to the torch.  The chicken is then scraped clean and cut into pieces ready for cooking along with the inasin and other ingredients.  Because of the torching, the resulting broth will have a slightly burnt but not too overpowering taste.  The inasin not only provides the salt for the dish but also balances out the burnt flavor, giving the dish its signature depth of flavor.  Tasting and truly enjoying the pinikpikan requires an open mind and a sense of adventure.   Man!  I miss pinikpikan!

How do you remember the process of making inasin?  Do you like pinikpikan that much that you would make your own inasin to prep the dish wherever you may be in the world?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.