humba

English

Two humbas

Etymology

From Tagalog humba.

Noun

humba (usually uncountable, plural humbas)

1. A Filipino braised pork dish from the Visayas, Philippines, traditionally made with fatty cuts of pork belly slow-cooked until very tender in soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and fermented black beans (tausi) sweetened with muscovado sugar, and also commonly including hard-boiled eggs and banana blossoms.
   • 2014 November, Claude Tayag, Mary Ann Quioc, “Humba: Braised pork”, in Linamnam: Eating One’s Way Around the Philippines, 2nd edition, Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing, →ISBN, “Central & Eastern Visayas” section, page 178:

     A most sought-after “correct” humba has the skin jelly-soft, with the fork-tender meat swimming in its own fat.

   • 2020 November 6, Pamela Silvestri, “Taste the Filipino flavor rainbow — right here on S.I.”, in Staten Island Advance, Staten Island, N.Y., →OCLC, page A8, column 3:

     On the a la carte menu are braised pork shank with pineapple-soy sauce, humba and several pansit-based dishes.

   • 2022 November 6, Briony Smith, “Off the menu: Toronto chefs find a new way to feed their clientele with food-delivery app Cookin”, in Sunday Star, Toronto, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, page TO2, column 3:

     Maria Polotan’s Humba / “I learned how to make humba from my mom, who learned it from her mom. My mom came from Visayas in the Philippines, where the dish is really popular. […]”

   • 2024 October 30, “10 Must-Try Fermented Foods in the Philippines”, in Newport World Resorts‎^[1], Newport City, archived from the original on 2025-03-31:

     Commonly used as a dipping sauce or marinade, it [toyo] enhances various dishes like bistek tagalog and pork humbas.

Further reading

• humba on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Cebuano

Alternative forms

• homba

Etymology

From Hokkien 封肉 (hong-bah, “braised meat”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hum‧ba

Noun

humba

1. humba (a dish similar to adobo but sweeter and fattier, usually made using fried pork belly cooked in a sauce including garlic, onions, fermented black beans, spring onions, brown sugar, pepper corns, bay leaves, soy sauce and lemon-lime soft drink or pineapple juice)
2. (often offensive, humorous) a fat person

Verb

humba

1. to cook humba
2. to cook meat this way

References

• “humba”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “humba”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 25
• Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980) “Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog”, in Pacific Linguistics, volume B, number 71 (PDF), Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University, page 137

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• umba
• hong ma

Etymology

Borrowed from Cebuano humba, or directly from Hokkien 封肉 (hong-bah, “braised meat”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /humˈbaʔ/ [hʊmˈbaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: hum‧ba

Noun

humbâ (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜓᜋ᜔ᜊ)

1. humba (Filipino braised pork dish popular among Visayans)

Derived terms

• humbain

Related terms

• bataw
• batsoy
• batutay
• lukba
• mami
• matsang

See also

• adobo
• estopado

References

• “humba”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “humba”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 25
• Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980) “Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog”, in Pacific Linguistics, volume B, number 71 (PDF), Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University, page 137
• Santos, Vito C. (1978) Vicassan's Pilipino-English Dictionary, Revised edition (overall work in Tagalog and English), With an Introduction by Teodoro A. Agoncillo, Metro Manila: National Book Store, →ISBN, page 657
• Panganiban, José Villa (1973) Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles (overall work in Tagalog and English), Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co., page 525