[Recipe] Arroz ala Cubana

Arroz ala cubana is a Filipino dish composed of sautéed  meat (could be pork or beef or even a combination of the two), typically topped with a fried egg and fried saba bananas (a starchy banana variety) served with white rice. I will not be discussing the origins of this dish which literally translates to "Cuban style rice" in Spanish, but suffice it to say that this dish is a very popular dish in the Philippines. Whether or not this dish has been adapted by the Filipinos during the Spanish colonial times from a dish originating in Cuba, it has earned its place in the local filipino food culture.

Arroz ala Cubana sans the fried egg topping

Arroz ala cubana is well suited for a heavy breakfast or brunch and it is offered in a lot of karinderya (small street-side eating places) and turo-turo (which translates to "point-point" because you just need to point at the dishes that you would like to eat)  since it is a relatively simple dish to make.     

Ingredients:
half kilo of ground meat (50% pork, 50% beef) 
1 medium size onion (roughly cut) 
3 cloves of garlic (minced) 
1/4 cup Green peas
1/4 cup Carrots (diced)
1/4 cup Corn whole kernels
4 pieces saba banana (cut into 2 lengthwise) - I personally prefer those that are almost ripe
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup whole black raisins
2 Tablespoons palm cooking oil
2 Tablespoons toyo (salty soy sauce)
1/2 cup meat stock (pork or beef)
Patis (fish sauce)  and ground Paminta (black pepper)  to taste
2 Eggs (fried sunny side up) for garnishing

Directions:
In a medium saucepan (or preferably a wok if you have it), sauté onion and garlic with the cooking oil until slightly caramelized. Stir in the ground beef and cook for 5 minutes (just to let the beef cook a little bit more). Add the ground pork and continue cooking until the meat is slightly browned (some of the oil from the fat is slowly rendered out and you will notice that the amount of the oil in the pan increases slightly). At this point, place the stock in the pan and cover. Reduce the heat to let it simmer until the meat is tender (around 20 to 30 minutes), occasionally checking the liquid in the pan and replenish it with water (don't overdo it though as you do not want the final dish to be soupy). Once the meat is tender, stir in the diced carrots, green peas, corn and raisins. Let it simmer further until the carrots and peas are cooked. Pour in the tomato sauce and season with soy sauce, fish sauce and ground black pepper.  

To garnish the dish, prepare the banana slices by frying them in oil until they are slightly brown on both sides. Fry some eggs sunny side up. These will be used as toppings for the dish. Serve with freshly steamed rice.