Baked Lechon Kawali

 

Lechon Kawali is a pan-fried pork belly, a very popular dish in Philippines.  The traditional way of making it is boiling the meat in salted water, air-dried, then deep-fried in a very hot oil until meat is golden brown and skin will blister and crisp.  I have been craving for this dish for a while now.  Due to our location situated in a tiny town, I always have hard time searching for this specific cut of meat.  I know they are much easier to find in most Asian grocery stores in bigger cities where lots of different nationals reside.  But that does not mean I can't find a way....if there's a will there's a way, right?  So if the first option is not available I go for the second one, which is pork ham with skin on.  With pork ham you'll get more lean meat and less fat and I thought....hmm, this works well for my hubby being much pickier than me!

In this version, I tried experimenting of baking it instead of deep-frying for the obvious reason, to eliminate some fats instead of adding.  Don't get me wrong, my hubby and I love this dish very much but if there's any way we can do to make a dish healthier without sacrificing the flavor is always a bonus!  To be honest, we cannot tell the difference of the taste from the results between the two methods of cooking.

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds pork belly or pork ham

4 bay leaves

2 tablespoons whole peppercorns

salt

Boil enough water in a large pot to cover the meat.  Carefully submerge the meat, add 1 tablespoon  salt, bay leaves and whole peppercorns.  Bring to a rapid boil then simmer with lid on until meat is fork tender (depending on the meat, some takes longer) about 1-2 hours.  When meat is tender, gently take it out of the pot, lay on a rack to drain.  Place rack on a baking dish or pan with foil to strain the excess fat.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Season meat with salt making sure all sections are flavored.  Bake for  20-30 minutes, or until skin is brown and crispy (internal temperature should read 160 degrees).  Note, if using pork ham it might take longer to cook due to its thickness, feel free to lower temperature and loosely cover meat with foil to avoid burning for the first 30 minutes, when inside meat is cooked through remove foil and turn up the temperature back up to brown the skin.   Remove from the oven.  Let it rest on a chopping board for 10 minutes, chop into bite size and enjoy with your favorite sauce and steamed rice!