The Happy Home Cook: Lechon Kawali
/The Happy Home Cook features cherished recipes of Filipino dishes from well-known foodies and contributors. If you have a recipe that you are proud of and would like to share, please send it along with a photo of the dish, your two-sentence bio and your picture to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.
Lechon kawali made by Miguel Carrion’s dad, Mike Carrion.
Ingredients
• 2 lbs. pork belly (bone in)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons whole pepper corn
• 5 pieces dried bay leaves
• 1 large yellow onion cut into quarters
• 3 cups cooking oil
• 48 ounces water (6 cups)
Instructions
• Pour water in a cooking pot. Heat until boiling.
• Add the pork belly and 1 tablespoon of salt. Add some black pepper, bay leaves, and onions. Boil for 1 hour or until meat gets tender and almost fall off the bone
• Remove the meat from the pot and let cool down for a few minutes.
• While the pork belly is cooling down, spread 1 tablespoon of salt on the pork belly, rub extra on the skin. Make sure to distribute it evenly on all sides
• Pierce holes with a fork, (bunched up toothpicks or spiked meat tenderizer will also do) all over the skin down into the top layer of fat. (Don’t pierce all the way through to the meat.)
• Let stand for 20-30 mins in room temp then wipe off the salt and excess moisture on the skin with a paper towel
• Heat oil in a cooking pot, to around 350˚- 375˚F
• Put boiled pork belly skin side up into the hot oil with extra caution. Fry until crispy and golden brown. Turn the meat over to completely fry the opposite side until crispy. Note: be extra careful when frying as oil can splatter. You can use the cover of the pot to cover it while oil splatters, but do not cover completely as steam will be trapped. It will cause more splatters.
• Remove the meat from the cooking pot. Arrange on a wire rack to cool down. Slice according to desired portions
• Serve with lechon sauce. Share and Enjoy!
Miguel Carrion is a Photojournalism student at San Francisco State University whose work has been published in BBC News and Inquirer.net. You can follow his work and contact him through his Instagram: @miguel.flcarrion
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