How would you like to prepare a crispy, crunchy, roasted pork belly for your family? That would be divine! And it’s very doable. ...And oh! so worth the try!
Hubby and I used to go to Baliwag Lechon (Manok/Liempo) for our fix of some tasty, juicy pork liempo, especially when we just want to eat at home and watch good TV. This was years and years ago back in the Philippines. Recently, we tried to recreate Baliway Lechon-style with pork belly just because. We used lemongrass and bay leaf to give our pork belly the aroma and flavor that we want in our pork. More so, we cooked it in such a way that we'd be crunching on the skin like that of a lechon's so we get the best of all the worlds.
I am not so good in plating, obviously. But here's what we made. When the food's beckoning to you like "crazy eat me up now!!", you just have to take a shot of what on the plate so you could munch on the the quickest. Well, that's what happened here. I hope you appreciate that moist tender meat on that crunchy skin from my phone camera's point of view.
Going back to the recipe, this crispy pork belly roast is very easy to do. It does take some time to cook in the oven. The good news is that the directions on how to do it and the ingredients needed to make it are all so simple. If you’re up to it, gear up your oven and let’s make some crispy roast.
Ingredients:
-Pork belly, 1kg (about 45mins additional cooking for every kilo)
-Garlic, 8 cloves, crushed
-Raw sugar, 1tbsp
-Paprika powder, 1tbsp
-Garlic powder, 1tbsp
-Cracked pepper, 1tbsp
-Salt, 1tbsp
-Lemongrass, 2 stalks
-Bay leaf, 4-6 pieces
-Salt, ½-1 cup or enough to cover the skin of the pork belly
-Water
Directions:
1. Pre heat oven at 180-185 c (depending on the oven).
2. Prepare the rub. Mix the sugar, paprika, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a dry bowl. Set aside.
3. Place some water on the oven pan and put it on the bottom part of the oven. The pork should be roasted above the tray with water.
4. Dry the pork with paper towel.
5. With a help of a skewer, insert the lemon grass stalks in the body of the meat. See how we did it in the photo below.
6. Insert the crushed garlic and bay leaves. Make sure that you make it deep enough so that the garlic will not be pushed out while the pork is cooking.
7. Massage the pork belly with the rub prepared in Step 2.
8. Layer the skin of the pork with salt. Make sure it is evenly placed.
9. Place the pork belly on the wire rack and put on the middle rack of the oven.
10. Place the remaining lemongrass stalks, if any, on the tray with water.
11. Wait for 1 hour. The salt will form into a crust. Once crusted, remove the salt and turn up the oven to 240-245C. Also, check if you need to add water in the pan.
12. Roast the pork for another 35-40 mins until the crackling is formed.
13. Remove the pork and sit for 5 mins.
14. Cut into desired size and serve.
I hope you enjoy this one. Remember me when you cook!!
Hubby and I used to go to Baliwag Lechon (Manok/Liempo) for our fix of some tasty, juicy pork liempo, especially when we just want to eat at home and watch good TV. This was years and years ago back in the Philippines. Recently, we tried to recreate Baliway Lechon-style with pork belly just because. We used lemongrass and bay leaf to give our pork belly the aroma and flavor that we want in our pork. More so, we cooked it in such a way that we'd be crunching on the skin like that of a lechon's so we get the best of all the worlds.
I am not so good in plating, obviously. But here's what we made. When the food's beckoning to you like "crazy eat me up now!!", you just have to take a shot of what on the plate so you could munch on the the quickest. Well, that's what happened here. I hope you appreciate that moist tender meat on that crunchy skin from my phone camera's point of view.
Going back to the recipe, this crispy pork belly roast is very easy to do. It does take some time to cook in the oven. The good news is that the directions on how to do it and the ingredients needed to make it are all so simple. If you’re up to it, gear up your oven and let’s make some crispy roast.
Ingredients:
-Pork belly, 1kg (about 45mins additional cooking for every kilo)
-Garlic, 8 cloves, crushed
-Raw sugar, 1tbsp
-Paprika powder, 1tbsp
-Garlic powder, 1tbsp
-Cracked pepper, 1tbsp
-Salt, 1tbsp
-Lemongrass, 2 stalks
-Bay leaf, 4-6 pieces
-Salt, ½-1 cup or enough to cover the skin of the pork belly
-Water
Directions:
1. Pre heat oven at 180-185 c (depending on the oven).
2. Prepare the rub. Mix the sugar, paprika, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a dry bowl. Set aside.
3. Place some water on the oven pan and put it on the bottom part of the oven. The pork should be roasted above the tray with water.
4. Dry the pork with paper towel.
5. With a help of a skewer, insert the lemon grass stalks in the body of the meat. See how we did it in the photo below.
6. Insert the crushed garlic and bay leaves. Make sure that you make it deep enough so that the garlic will not be pushed out while the pork is cooking.
7. Massage the pork belly with the rub prepared in Step 2.
8. Layer the skin of the pork with salt. Make sure it is evenly placed.
9. Place the pork belly on the wire rack and put on the middle rack of the oven.
10. Place the remaining lemongrass stalks, if any, on the tray with water.
11. Wait for 1 hour. The salt will form into a crust. Once crusted, remove the salt and turn up the oven to 240-245C. Also, check if you need to add water in the pan.
12. Roast the pork for another 35-40 mins until the crackling is formed.
13. Remove the pork and sit for 5 mins.
14. Cut into desired size and serve.
I hope you enjoy this one. Remember me when you cook!!
