Lechon Kawali is a popular Filipino dish consisting of deep-fried pork belly. It's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Here’s how you can make it at home:
Ingredients:
2 lbs pork belly
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon peppercorns
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
6 cups water
Oil for frying
For Gochujang Sauce:
2 tbsp gochujang paste,
2 tbsp honey
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions:
Prepare the Pork Belly:
Clean the pork belly and place it in a pot.
Add water, salt, peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 1 to 1.5 hours or until the pork is tender. You can check by piercing it with a fork; it should go through easily.
Dry the Pork Belly:
Remove the pork belly from the pot and let it cool.
Pat it dry with paper towels. It’s essential to remove as much moisture as possible to avoid oil splatters when frying.
Optional: To get extra crispy skin, you can let the pork belly air-dry in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
Deep-Fry the Pork Belly:
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or deep fryer. The oil should be deep enough to submerge the pork belly.
Carefully lower the pork belly into the hot oil. Be cautious as the oil will splatter.
Fry until the skin is crispy and golden brown, turning occasionally to ensure even cooking. This should take about 10-15 minutes.
Once done, remove the pork belly from the oil and let it drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Chop the fried pork belly into bite-sized pieces.
For the sauce: Place the gochujang, honey, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, vegetable oil, and sesame oil in a saucepan and stir together.
Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes until thickened.
Pour over the chop pork belly and carefully toss together, then top with the spring onions, chilli flakes, and sesame seeds before serving.
Serve hot with rice.
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