I got curious with it as I didn’t really understood what it meant. Even the supervisor or anyone at the restaurant was in a quandary. But the dish was infront of me in all its delicious splendor glistening and beckoning me to taste it.
When I first read about hung ma (braised pork with accompanying fried bread) of Park Restaurant located at the ground floor of Crown Hotel in Naga City, Camarines Sur, I said to myself that I should try it. But at P400 per order and good for 4 people, I backed out as I don’t have anyone to share it with and then totally forgot this one.
As I was loitering around the crowded SM City mall, coming from CWC, I stumbled upon Crown Park Restaurant and decided to have an early dinner (at 4PM). Wonder of wonders, they have the hung ma rice topping (P100 only, good for one, sans the bread) but that didn’t register. It was my curiosity that made me order one.
A medium sized bowl arrived and on it, hot rice topped with well braised pork belly, smothered with the soy based sauce with cooked pechay (chinese cabbage) and scallions. And it was just good: tender, not too salty and not too sweet, but I wouldn’t mind having it a tad sweeter. The pork used is good enough, with a well balanced lean-fat distribution with the latter not too dense.
The hung ma, the waiter then told me, is like the humba (of Cebu) and sensing the similarities of the words, its possible that the former might be the original term and eventually cebuanized. This branch of the Park Restaurant is famous for this dish and what people usually do, and order with it, is make it a sandwich with the hung ma bread which is fried, the same bread that is served in Majestic Restaurant in Cebu with every order of patatim, braised leg of pork.
Now, I have something to look forward to when I’m back in Naga City.
Park Restaurant (main)
Crown Hotel
Centro, Naga City
Camarines Sur
Crown Park Restaurant (branch)
SM City Naga
Naga City
Camarines Sur
This is surely yummy! Something to look forward to in Naga. 🙂