Lechon kawali with a cup of rice please!

This is my regular order at

least once a week when I was in high school. Our school canteen
serves one of the best versions of this dish. I like it best when the pork
just got out of the pot. It is super crispy and hot.

What is Lechon Kawali

Crispy deep-fried pork is the simplest way to describe lechon kawali.
Pork belly or liempo is the cut of pork usually used to cook it. This dish
is best served for lunch or dinner with white rice on the side. It is also
nice to have with dipping sauce.
This dish should not be mistaken with Lechon, which is considered as
the national dish of the Philippines. Both dishes are prepared in a
different manner. These also have different visual appearance.
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Lechon kawali got its name from the type of cooking pan that is
traditionally used to cook it, the Kawali. It is the typical pan that can be
found in almost all Filipino household. This is the “goto” pan in
everyday cooking.
I think that the term lechon was used as a comparison to the crispy
texture of the traditional lechong baboy.

How to Cook Lechon Kawali

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There are two processes involved in cooking lechon kawali. The first
process involves boiling the pork belly, while the next is deep-frying
until the skin becomes crispy.
Let’s talk about the boiling process first. This is necessary to achieve
that crispy skin result. Simply frying pork without boiling will have a
different outcome.
It is important that the pork belly gets really tender during this step.
Start by boiling water in a deep cooking pot. I also add salt and other
seasonings. The flavors are absorbed by the pork while boiling. The
minimum amount of time is 30 minutes. Feel free to go beyond this
time as necessary. This is also the same process when making crispy
pata.
Deep-frying the pork belly makes the skin golden brown and crispy.
Do this by heating oil on a deep cooking pot. Make sure to rub salt all
over the boiled pork belly before frying. It helps provide more flavor.
Carefully put a piece of pork belly into the pan with hot oil and put
your guard up always by holding the cover of the pot. Partially cover
as necessary when hot oil starts to splatter. Covering the pot totally is
not recommended because it traps the steam which forms into water.
This causes oil to splatter more when it drips from the base of the
cover. Cook in medium heat until the pork belly is crispy. Here is a
good forum that talks more about preventing oil from splattering
when frying.
It is recommended to turn the pork belly over to complexly fry the
opposite side when not enough oil is used. This way, your lechon
kawali is cooked uniformly.
Place the deep-fried pork on a wire rack and let it cook down. Chop
into serving pieces. This is best served with lechon sauce. You can also
use a mixture of soy sauce and calamansi as dipping sauce.
Try this Lechon Kawali Recipe. Let me know what you think.