Hotta Rice | Pork Estofado

Filipinos adore their pork in so many ways that some are unheard of. In the case of the Pork Estofado, this is similar to Adobo and it is stewed pork cooked in vinegar and soy sauce with fried plantains, carrots, and sausages. This version of the Pork Estofado comes with a sliced banana and just plain stewed pork which is entirely new to the experience of having this. 7-Eleven unveiled two more Hotta Rice meals that have “pork” in them and immediately replaced the former Afritada and Chicken Curry at the same time celebrating their fortieth anniversary bringing out the best for the convenience store featuring new products across the board like this Hotta Rice!

Unlike the Sisig Tofu which seems to be a limited-time-only product, this Pork Estofado is a new addition keeping the Hotta Rice range of affordable lunch meals fresh with new flavours to choose from while on a budget.

There are Filipino dishes and Filipinos adore homegrown original recipes, and that is what you get with the Pork Estofado. Like most of the Hotta Rice packaged in a circular container, it is also colour-coordinated in line with the anniversary of 7-Eleven in the Philippines similar to the Bangus Steak,

Keeping it Porky

It’s no secret that Filipinos like to experiment with their pork, and this dish certainly adds to the menu for the Hotta Rice range of rice meals with “Pork” in it. But unlike the Pork Liempo or Pork Siomai, this one is stewed as most locals like their dish with sauce in it so that the product is not entirely dry.

The packaging gives you an idea of why the dish is separate from the rice similar to dishes that have sauce in them. But it doesn’t apply to the Tofu Sisig when you prepare it before being cooked using a microwave oven.

Not-so Fancy Banana

The part that was quite strange about this dish was that it came with a sliced banana and the only dish that had one was the Plant-Based Arroz à la Cubana. But this one has sauce in it, unlike the above-mentioned dish that is semi-dried.

Despite the flavours, not the ones you’d expect for a stewed pork it is still good enough to have that experience of having a Filipino dish for an affordable price. It might not be like the Plant-Based Arroz à la Cubana, but it is a new product that you should at least try to savour the taste of how they interpreted the Pokr Estofado.

Overall, there’s no fancy stuff to be excited about and it is just another “pork” meal that 7-Eleven is trying to bring to the masses. It might grow on your palette as not everyone was not expecting another pork product with most being health-conscious at the same time looking for other alternatives that are affordable and do not have too much “pork” on their menu for those wanting to have different dishes that is not settled to just another dish with the “pork” connected to its name.

• Food Quality: 3 out of 5
• Affordability: B-
• Overall: 7-Eleven should not limit their list of affordable meals with "pork" in it.

Pork Estofado | Retailed at: ₱ 85.00 Pesos [$ 2.27 AUD | $ 1.48 USD]**

** - Currency Converter via Google.com