Everyone has their preference of favorite Filipino dishes when the yearly gatherings arrive. For some, it might be lumpia, or perhaps leche flan for others. But one dish that often tops the list is an irresistible plate of juicy Crispy Pata. Every bit as audibly crunchy as its name states, this is definitely a meal that could give all your other crispy favorites a run for their money. Not only that, but it is sprinkled with peppercorn, bay leaves, garlic and more in seasonings. These essentially add some flavor to that crunch. But if you’ve tried making the deep-fried classic, I suggest you also give Air Fryer Crispy Pata a shot!
While some are hesitant about just how much crunch an air fryer can bring to your meat, I can tell you now that we don’t cut back on any delicious crispiness with this method. In fact, you get just about as much of that crunch with an air fryer, but with loads less oil. And because of this, you consume less calories and fat for a bit of a healthier twist.
Feeling persuaded to cook up some Air Fryer Crispy Pata? Just follow these steps!
We will start out by grabbing a wide cooking pot. This is where we’ll place the majority of our ingredients for this dish. Place it over your stove so we can get ready to apply some heat later on. And so take 1 piece of whole pork hock or pata, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 3 pieces of dried bay leaves, 2 pieces of star anise, 1 tablespoon of whole peppercorn, 1 piece of wedged onion, and your preferred amount of salt, then place all of these in your pot.
Now pour in some water until the pata has been completely submerged in this. Then put your cover on top, and apply some heat so we can wait for it to boil. Once it has begun boiling, you can take the heat down to low. With this, keep on boiling your mix of ingredients until the pork becomes tender. This may take about 60 to 90 minutes.
When you’re done with this, you can take your beautifully flavored pork hock out of the pot. Wait for it to be cool enough to touch, as we’ll be adding some more seasonings to its exterior. When you’ve gotten the pata to a lower temperature, you can start rubbing some salt and ground black pepper all over it. Then you can air dry this for a minimum of 6 hours. But you also have the option of placing it under the sun, or letting it dehydrate inside your air fryer for 3 hours.
Let’s get to air-frying the pata!
When you’ve finished the time for air drying, take 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, and rub this evenly over the pata. Then you can put it in your air fryer, and set this to 450 °F. From this point onwards, you’ve got a pretty quick process, as you’ll air-fry this for just 15 minutes. Then take the temperature down to 350 °F, and air-fry the pata again, but only for 10 minutes this time around.
After that, you can take the scrumptiously crunchy and succulent Crispy Pata out of the air fryer, and place it on your serving plate. Feel free to add some spicy vinegar dipping sauce to the mix. You can expect the flavors of the meat, as well as the unique sourness of this sauce to go extremely well together!
Enjoyed this recipe? How about giving some of these other delightfully crispy and juicy dishes a go?
Crispy Air Fried Liempo Pinakbet with Ube
Liempo, in all its savor and crunch, is definitely one dish that’s hard to say no to. But with how often you might find yourself encountering it during special occasions, you might be craving a fun, flavorful twist on this dish. Try making this Crispy Air Fried Liempo Pinakbet with Ube. This brings together all the semi-bitter and salty flavors of Pinakbet with some juicy pork belly! Having liempo with heaps of sitaw, okra and talong will really show you how massively complementary the right vegetables can be with crispy pork!
Crispy Pork Belly Chips
Who doesn’t love to snack every once in a while? Indulging in a bag of chips or fries can really help you feel more relaxed. But if you’d like to take your meryenda or pulutan to the next level, I would definitely recommend whipping up some Crispy Pork Belly chips! Not only does this have an incredibly tempting salty flavor, but it’s also quite easy to make! You’ll essentially be boiling, slicing, and slipping pork belly into your air fryer. And as mentioned earlier, this has the benefit of not requiring as much oil as many other crispy dishes.
If any of these recipes seemed enticing to you, don’t hesitate to look for more by scrolling through the website. And for any queries, leave a comment below!
Air Fryer Crispy Pata
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 1 piece whole pork hock pata
- 3 pieces dried bay leaves
- 2 pieces star anise
- 1 piece onion wedged
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorn
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine pork hock, garlic, bay leaves, star anise, whole peppercorn, onion, and salt in a wide cooking pot. Add water until the pork hocks are fully submerged. Cover and let it boil. Adjust heat to low and continue boiling for 60 to 90 minutes or until the pork gets tender.
- Remove pork hock from the pot. Let it cool down. Rub vinegar all over followed by salt and ground black pepper. Let it air dry for at least 6 hours (note: you may also soak it under the sun or dehydrate in the air fryer for 3 hours).
- Rub cooking oil all over the pork hock. Place it in an air fryer and air-fry at 450F for 15 minutes. Adjust the temperature to 350F and continue air frying for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the air fryer and arrange in a serving plate. Serve with spicy vinegar dipping sauce.
- Share and enjoy!
Merlyn de Juan says
I truly love both Air Fryer and Fried Crispy Pata. Thank you so much sir chef Vanjo Merano for the recipies you are sharing. Your recipies are so simple and easy to find and yet it’s so delicious.