I have a confession everyone. I honestly am not a fan of lechon, which is probably sacrilegious as a Filipino. Often times I skip the lechon at parties. But I don’t mind nibbling on lechon kawali. Weird right? I think it may be a texture thing. But then again I also don’t like lechon skin either. I swear I’m 100% Filipina, but I just don’t like lechon but will happily eat lechon kawali.
Anyhoo, lechon kawali is a great dish because it is crunchy on the outside and very tender on the inside. You can serve it as a main along with a side of rice and either lechon sauce or vinegar. You can also just have it as an appetizer; serve it on a tray with either sauce. It’s one of those dishes you just can’t eat one piece. And you’ll always have that one person at the table a bit envious they didn’t order lechon kawali and then asks you with puppy dog eyes for a piece, which inevitably ends up being several.
It’s a fairly easy dish to make if you can plan ahead because you need to let the pork belly dry out for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. The reason why you want to do this is because you want the least amount of water in the pork to minimize your frying oil splattering you in the face. A splatter screen is a must when making this dish. But don’t let any of this intimidate you because the results are soooooo worth it!
Lechon Kawali
A crispy and tender pork belly recipe.
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs. boneless pork belly
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tbs. whole black peppercorns
- 1/4 cup sugarcane vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, cut in quarters
- 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
- water
- frying oil
Directions
- Step 1 In a large pot add pork belly and all the ingredients (except oil).
- Step 2 Add water to pot until pork belly is just submerged.
- Step 3 Bring to boil and then down to simmer for about 30 minutes, or until pork belly is tender.
- Step 4 Place pork belly on a drying rack on a sheet tray and pat dry. Discard rest of ingredients in pot.
- Step 5 Place pork belly in fridge for at least 6 hours, ideally over night.
- Step 6 When pork belly is dry, take out of fridge and bring frying oil up to 350°F. Make sure there is enough oil to submerge pork belly.
- Step 7 Carefully place pork belly into hot oil, using a splatter guard to prevent oil making a mess. Work in batches to keep oil temperature from dipping too low.
- Step 8 Fry until golden brown, turning pork belly if needed. About 15 minutes.
- Step 9 Let pork rest for 5 minutes before chopping into bite sized pieces.
- Step 10 Serve with sugarcane vinegar and garlic or lechon sauce.
