Lechon

A rolled belly stuffed with lemongrass, dried hard, then blasted for the skin.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 3 kg pork belly, skin on, in one rectangular piece
• 6 stalks lemongrass, bruised
• 1 whole head of garlic, crushed
• 8 spring onions
• 6 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked
• 45 g salt
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• butcher's string

Method

1. Score the FLESH side in a diamond pattern and leave the skin untouched. Rub the salt, pepper and soy into the flesh only.
2. Lay the lemongrass, garlic, spring onions and bay along the middle and roll the belly tightly around them. Tie at 3 cm intervals.
3. A whole pig over charcoal is the full version. This is the belly roll, which is what a kitchen can actually do, and the skin is the same problem in both.
4. DRY THE SKIN UNCOVERED IN THE FRIDGE FOR 24 HOURS, then rub it with salt and nothing else. A damp skin steams and will never crackle, and no oven heat on the day can undo that.
5. Roast at 150C for 3 hours 30 minutes. The roll is dense and the middle has to come up to temperature slowly.
6. THEN RAISE IT TO 240C FOR 25 MINUTES to blister the skin. The two stages do different jobs: low heat alone leaves leather, high heat alone burns the outside around raw pork.
7. Rest 30 minutes and cut with a serrated knife so the crackling does not shatter off the slice. It is eaten with a sharp liver sauce.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes