← Nouns Cooking · Indonesian & Filipino

Ingredients

• 1 kg skin-on pork belly, in one slab
• 2 l water, enough to cover
• 2 tbsp salt, for boiling
• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 4 dried bay leaves
• 1 garlic bulb, halved crossways
• 1 tsp salt, for rubbing
• 1 l oil, for deep-frying
• 120 ml cane vinegar or white vinegar
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• ½ Red onion, finely chopped
• 2 Bird's eye chilli, sliced
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• 1 pinch Sugar

Method

1. Put the pork in a pot with the water, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves and garlic. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer gently for 45–50 min until a skewer slides easily into the meat.
2. Lift out the pork, pat it very dry, rub the skin with salt and leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight) so the skin dries out. Dry skin means crisp skin.
3. Mix all the dip ingredients and set aside to let the flavours mingle.
4. Cut the pork into 2–3 large pieces. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pot to 180°C (350°F). Lower in the pork and fry, partly covered with a lid or splatter guard, for 12–15 min, turning, until the skin is blistered and crackly and the meat is deep golden.
5. Rest the pork on a rack for 5 min, then chop it into bite-sized pieces with a heavy knife. Serve with rice and the spiced vinegar.

Tips

• The skin pops and spits violently in hot oil, so keep a lid handy, stand back and never fry pork that is still wet. An air fryer at 200°C (400°F) for about 25 minutes is a calmer alternative.
• Lechon sauce (a sweet liver gravy) is the other classic dip; most bottled ones contain wheat.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Panlasang Pinoy Foxy Folksy