Perfect Crispy Skin Lechon Baboy: Cebu Recipe with These Unique Ingredients

Lechon is to a celebration as to beer is for drinking parties. From Fiestas, Noche Buena, weddings, and almost any occasion are never ever going to be complete without this.

It always manages to make any celebration grander, what with its crispy skin and its succulent meat, people are surely going to forget that there are other items on the menu and form a line straight up to the Lechon.

Today, we will be looking at this Grand Lechon Recipe for you to follow in any upcoming celebrations.

In this recipe, we will realize that yes, Lechon makes any celebration grander, but the preparation itself is grand as well.

If you are from the provinces, you will actually have access to pigs in the backyard being prepared.

However, if you don’t have access to live pigs, you can always go to the butcher shop and buy an entire pig prepared specifically for Lechon.

Also check out this crispy tadyang ng baka recipe to make

Things to consider for preparing Lechon

After draining the pig, remove its innards and wash its insides, then take away its hairs by lightly burning it.
After making sure that all hairs are gone, wash the entire pig thoroughly again. Making sure that there are no traces of the insides and hair.
Seasoning the pig comes next and this involves mixing a lot of soy sauce, salt, garlic, onion, pepper, and seasonings and washing the pig with this said mixture. Be very generous in this part.
Also, rub the pig inside and out with this mixture.
Proceed to stuff the stomach of the big with lemongrass to fight off its gamey smell and saw the pig close.
Skewer the pig with a bamboo pole and roast over charcoal. While it is roasting, you can brush it with vegetable or palm oil once in a while for it to have its distinct shine.
After it is roasted, you can now chop it and serve to your guests or have it brought whole to the grand table.
This is complicated but is very much a rewarding one. This is always going to be perfect in any celebration and will always be a favorite among Filipinos.

It’s hard to pretend that before I eat the Lechon, I actually saw it first as a squealing, very much alive pig.

Yep. That’s what spending your childhood during summers in the provinces does to you. You actually see farm animals slaughtered. To be eaten Later By you. :)

How to make perfect lechon (lechon cebu)

Lechon is to a celebration as to beer is for drinking parties. From Fiestas, Noche Buena, weddings, and almost any occasion are never ever going to be complete without this. Course Main CourseCuisine FilipinoKeyword Pork Prep Time 8 hoursCook Time 4 hoursTotal Time 12 hours Servings 20 people Calories 1190kcal Author Joost Nusselder Cost $40

Ingredients

1 whole native pig (live weight 18 – 20 kilos)
salt and black pepper to taste
soy sauce

for the glaze:

1 liter Sprite

for the stuffing:

10 bundles lemongrass (tanglad)
¼ cup star anise
6 pcs laurel or bay leaves cut into small parts
5 cups crushed garlic
2 kilos green onion leave
8 pcs halved saba bananas half-cooked thru boiling

Instructions

First, shave hair follicles of the pig and remove the innards. Rinse the pig and make sure there are no more lumps of blood inside the stomach.
Then rub the insides with salt and pepper including the body.
Rub a little soy sauce on the inside belly of the pig.
Stuff the belly with saba bananas, anise, green onion leaves, crushed garlic and laurel leaves.
Next, stack the lemongrass the center stomach, and stitched the belly, making sure that no ingredients slip out.
Skewer the pig with a mid-size bamboo and split roast over hot charcoal. Do not put the charcoal directly underneath the belly of the pig but over both sides, slowly churning the pig roast.
While slowly roasting the pig, glaze it from time to time with sprite using a sponge. This will make the skin extra crispy.
Roast for a couple of hours until the meat is tender. Do not overcook.

Nutrition

Calories: 1190kcal

Do you like this Lechon Recipe? Don’t forget to leave your ideas and comments below. Please Give this article a review/rating.

Lechon Kawali Recipe (Crispy Fried Pork Belly)

We Filipinos consider ourselves a people who do not like wasting anything especially food. And any dish that is leftover is spun as another dish ready to be consumed next mealtime.

One such dish is Lechon Kawali. In the event that a whole Roasted Lechon is not devoured in a big celebration, you are assured that it will still last for another day only as a different meal.

However, you can also cook Lechon Kawali from scratch and you wouldn’t need an actually roasted lechon to start off.

Continue reading up to the last post to learn more about Lechon Kawali Recipe.

Lechon Kawali Recipe Tips and Preparation

There are Two Versions of this Lechon Kawali recipe, one involves using leftover lechon and another one is lechon kawali made from pork belly.

This first Lechon Kawali recipe is very easy to follow. First, put oil and let it heat on a pan then add the leftover lechon for it to fry.

After frying, take off the fried lechon from the pan and reserve it for later. Now, in a separate pot, saute onion and garlic until translucent, then add the fried lechon.

After which you add flour, sugar, vinegar and salt and pepper. Let it simmer until the liquid formed by these ingredients is almost evaporated.

An alternative to the flour, sugar and vinegar combo is just pouring lechon sarsa into the pot after putting the lechon. Again, adjust the amount of the “Sarsa” as you wish.

Lechon Kawali Recipe (Crispy Fried Pork Belly)

This first Lechon Kawali Recipe is very easy to follow. First, put oil and let it heat on a pan then add the leftover lechon for it to fry. After frying, take off the fried lechon from the pan and reserve it for later. Course Side DishCuisine FilipinoKeyword Pork Prep Time 10 minutesCook Time 2 hoursTotal Time 2 hours 10 minutes Servings 8 people Calories 630kcal Author Joost Nusselder Cost $6

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skin-on pork belly cut in half
8 cloves garlic smashed
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
½ cup soy sauce
Kosher salt
Canola or peanut oil, for frying
Rice or cane vinegar, preferably spicy, for dipping

Instructions

Place pork belly, skin side down, in a large pot and add enough water to completely submerge the meat. Add garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower heat and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until pork skin can be pierced with a knife with no resistance, about 1 hour. Transfer pork to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and season liberally with salt all over. Refrigerate pork until the skin has completely dried, 6 hours or overnight.
Remove pork from refrigerator and cut into 3/4-inch slices.
Fill a wok or Dutch oven at least 4 inches oil and heat to 375°F over high heat. Working in batches, fry pork until deeply browned and skin has bubbled and crisped, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer pork to a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Cut pork slices into 1/2-inch pieces. Serve immediately with vinegar for dipping.

Nutrition

Calories: 630kcal

Another version of this Lechon Kawali recipe involves washing the Pork Belly and dousing with a combination of bay leaf, salt and peppercorns and refrigerating it overnight.

Then, taking it off the refrigerator, heat the pan and put oil into it, tossing the pork belly and deep-frying it. Wait until the pork belly is already golden brown.

Once it is done, take it off from the pan, and drain any extra oil.

Again after this, you have a choice to saute it once more and adding Mang Tomas sarsa into it or to serve it already after frying and reserving the Lechon sarsa as just a dip.

Salamat!

Also read: Crispy Filipino Bagnet Recipe, the holy grail for meat lovers

Filipino Lechon Pork Belly Recipe: Leave this marinating all night!

People over the world have their versions of the suckling pig. Here in the Philippines, Pinoys have lechon and it’s a much-celebrated delicacy with several renditions spanning the numerous provinces of the country.

It also evolved through the years hence the birth of the famous Lechon Belly Recipe. Like any Lechon Cebu Recipe including Lechon Kawali cooked to perfection, this version uses pork belly.

The bones are removed so the presentation is quite remarkable because it’s rolled and tied. Through this, cutting it can provide a more unique and even slices.

This Lechon is often the topic of even the most discerning Pinoys. It’s also one of the favorite delicacies of foreigners.

Many restaurants serve it but cooking this at home is always better because it’s cheaper and the serving is bigger.

Lechon Belly Recipe Preparation

What is it that makes this Lechon Belly Recipe so good? First, you can’t deny that almost all pork dishes are good. Pork meat is delicious.

The addition of different herbs and spices makes this dish even better. Aside from Adobo, Sinigang, and Sisig, the lechon belly is one of the most loved dishes of the Philippines.

Moreover, this dish has crispy skin when cooked the right way. For that reason, it’s a mainstay in different celebrations like weddings, baptism, office parties, and other celebrations.

Most of all, it’s hard to celebrate a fiesta without Lechon.

Filipino Lechon Pork Belly Recipe

The Lechon Belly Recipe has crispy skin when cooked the right way. For that reason, it’s a mainstay in different celebrations like weddings, baptism, office parties, and other celebrations. Course Main CourseCuisine FilipinoKeyword LEchon, Pork Prep Time 30 minutesCook Time 12 hoursTotal Time 12 hours 30 minutes Servings 8 people Calories 715kcal Author Joost Nusselder Cost $20

Ingredients

2 kilo Pork Belly Ribs without ribs

For the Marinade / Brine

1 stalk lemon grass (tanglad)
1 stalk onion leeks (or 3 stalk scallions)
2 pcs laurel (bay leaves)
1 tbsp ground black peppercorn
5 cloves garlic crushed
½ cup rock salt
5 cups water

For the fillings:

1 stalk lemon grass (tanglad)
1 stalk onion leeks (or 3 stalk scallions)
2 cloves garlic crushed

For the glaze:

3 part evaporated milk
1 part water

Instructions

Wash the pork slab with running water and make sure that hairs on the skin are shaved.
In a pot, put 5 cups of water then add lemon grass, bay leaves, onion, black peppercorn, garlic, and salt.
Make the brine/marinade: Bring water to boil then lower heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes. This will allow the herbs and spices to release its flavor and aroma.
Turn off heat. Set aside brine solution until it cools.
Pour the brine on the pork slab and marinate overnight (about 10~12 hours)
After marinating, remove the pork from the brine. The surface of the pork is quite salty so we have to rinse with fresh water then pat dry with towel.
Lay the pork slab on flat surface and place the rolled lemon grass, leek, and garlic.
Now roll up the pork slab, form a roulade with the garlic, leeks, and lemon grass on the center. Tie pork with twine (string) to keep its roulade in shape.
Brush the surface with mixture of milk and water. Set aside for at least half to an hour to allow milk to set in the skin. Milk makes the skin color reddish brown when roasted.

Cook lechon using turbo broiler

Set and preheat your turbo broiler at 375 deg F (190 deg C). Maintain this temperature up to end of cooking.
Put the pork roulade on the turbo broiler but cover with aluminum foil.
I put aluminum foil to cover the meat temporarily for the first 2 hours of cooking to keep the belly moist inside and to shield from direct hot air from the broiler fan otherwise the outer part of the pork will be cooked quickly yet the inner part is still half cooked.
After 2 hours remove the aluminum foil cover. Continue cooking but rotate the roulade, at least every 10 minutes to evenly cook the skin.
Check if the skin is already crackling crispy then it is done.

Cook lechon using an oven

Set and preheat your oven at 375 deg F (190 deg C). Maintain this temperature up to end of cooking.
Place your pork roulade over a grill pan with wire mesh. Cover with aluminum foil.
Cover the belly for the first 2 hours of cooking to keep the belly moist inside and to shield from direct heat from the oven otherwise the outer part of the pork will be cooked quickly yet the inner part is still half cooked.
Place pork belly inside the oven. Remove the aluminum wrap after 2 hours. Rotate the pork once in a while to cook the skin evenly.
Check if the skin is already crackling crispy then it is done.

Notes

Cooking time may vary from 2 hours up to 3 hours depending on the pork slab if it came from young or matured pig.
If your oven has rotisserie then you can use it. Just wrap it with aluminum foil for the first 2 hours of cooking.
To make the skin bubbling crispy, pierce the pork skin with fork before cooking. Make sure that the pierce is not too deep to reach the fat section of the pork.
Left over lechon belly can be recycled to as LECHON PAKSIW rather reheating the same dish again.

Nutrition

Calories: 715kcal

Also read: this is how you make a soy sauce marinated Paksiw na Pata

It’s easier to cook the Lechon Belly Recipe. Even home cooks can do this because there’s no need for a roasting pit to do it. An ordinary turbo broiler or oven can do the job.

Don’t worry because the skin will still be crispy. It will take some time to marinate the meat before putting it in the oven or broiler.

It’s important to cover the meat with aluminum foil in the first half roasting. This is to keep the meat moist.

After that, it will be cooked further, this time, without the aluminum foil to make the skin crispy.

This is a fatty dish, that’s why adding some side dishes can complement its richness. With that, take time to cook this dish to discover its amazing flavors.

Also check out this Pork Humba Recipe, a delicious Filipino sweet, salty & sour pork belly