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Lechon Kawali Recipe

Lechon kawali or Pan-roasted pork to some is different from Lechon, the well known Filipino dish which is also the national dish of the Philippines. While lechon is cooked in a pit filled with flamed charcoal, Lechon kawali is cooked by boiling then later deep frying a portion of the pig (pork belly usually) .

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By: Vanjo Merano 32 Comments Updated: 3/27/19

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

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.

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

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.

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag us on Instagram at @panlasangpinoy or hashtag #panlasangpinoy so we can see your creations!

Lechon Kawali Recipe

This is a recipe for lechon kawali or crispy deep fried pork belly.
Prep: 10 minutes minutes
Cook: 50 minutes minutes
Total: 1 hour hour
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Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. pork belly
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons whole pepper corn
  • 5 pieces dried bay leaves
  • 3 cups cooking Oil
  • 34 ounces Water
US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

  • Pour water on cooking pot. Boil
  • Add the pork belly and 1 tablespoon of salt. Put some pepper pepper and bay leaves. Boil for 30 minutes or until meat gets tender
  • Remove the meat from the pot and let it cool down for a few minutes
  • Spread 1 tablespoon of salt on the pork belly. Make sure to distribute it evenly on all sections
  • Start to deep fry the boiled meat. Heat oil on a cooking pot.
  • Put each piece of boiled pork belly into the hot oil with extra caution. Fry until crispy. Turn the meat over to completely fry the opposite side until crispy. Note: be extra careful when frying as oil can splatter. You can use the cover of the pot to cover it while oil splatters, but do not cover completely as steam will be trapped. It will cause more splatters.
  • Remove the meat from the cooking pot. Arrange on a wire rack to cool down.  Slice according to desired portions
  • Serve with lechon sauce. Share and Enjoy!

Nutrition Information

Serving: 6g Calories: 893kcal (45%) Carbohydrates: 2g (1%) Protein: 14g (28%) Fat: 91g (140%) Saturated Fat: 30g (150%) Cholesterol: 108mg (36%) Sodium: 2382mg (99%) Potassium: 324mg (9%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Vitamin A: 85IU (2%) Vitamin C: 0.8mg (1%) Calcium: 34mg (3%) Iron: 1.5mg (8%)
© copyright: Vanjo Merano

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Vanjo Merano

Vanjo Merano is the creator of PanlasangPinoy.com. His goal is to introduce Filipino Food and Filipino Cuisine to the rest of the world. This blog was the first step that he took.

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Recipe Rating




  1. Diesebel says

    Posted on 3/5/12 at 7:05 am

    I hate cooking until I found this brilliant website which gradually aroused my interest.Many thanks.

    Reply
  2. Cheryl says

    Posted on 2/5/12 at 10:29 am

    Of course, just be careful when you’re frying the pork. My mom always manages to burn her skin with hot oil as it splatters. Sighs. No one makes lechon kawali better than mom, eh?

    Reply
  3. cheryl says

    Posted on 1/3/12 at 10:18 am

    you helped me a lot! i love to cook but had little knowledge until i happened to open panlasang pinoy.

    Reply
  4. Ficelle says

    Posted on 12/13/11 at 3:02 am

    HI Vanjo! I went to Bene too (loyalty awardee both gradeshcool & highschool!) & I miss the canteen food! I’m from batch 89 (same as the son’s owner of ERV canteen). More power to your site! I’ve been getting recipes here since last year. Although, my lechon kawali is boiled then oven grilled -- less oily but same crispiness!

    Reply
  5. Jen says

    Posted on 12/3/11 at 5:24 pm

    I didn’t know you were from San Beda Alabang! I’ve been referencing to your website for some recipes ever since I moved here to the US! I’ve been craving for lechon kawali for some time now, and I think I’ll have that tomorrow for lunch after church. I’m from San Beda Alabang also 🙂

    Reply
  6. Vicky klebais says

    Posted on 11/9/11 at 1:54 pm

    Hi,I’m going to try this lechon kawali on my B-Day,cause this is my son fab,I’m going to surprise him, thank you very much,

    Reply
  7. Grace says

    Posted on 9/29/11 at 2:10 am

    thanks po sa pag share ng mga recipe po ninyo kuya ang saraaap!!!!!

    Reply
  8. Lanie says

    Posted on 11/29/10 at 1:53 am

    I love your website! I can’t wait to try more of your delicious recipes. I know this is a Filipino recipe site, but I wish your videos were in English so that those of us that are neither Filipino, nor good cooks can watch the videos and create wonderful dishes right along with you! Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply
  9. Ann says

    Posted on 9/13/10 at 4:29 pm

    Ever since I (or actually my husband) discovered your website…I spent a whole day copying your recipes that I can try out. Thanks. This is very helpful. Now I can add variety to my cooking!

    Reply
  10. Carlos Lee says

    Posted on 7/4/10 at 7:19 pm

    I tried the lechon kawali. I boiled the pork belly as instructed.
    But I did not rub the belly with salt prior to deep frying.

    After frying, the skin is not crispy. It’s chewy. Any advised?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Panlasang Pinoy says

      Posted on 7/5/10 at 12:03 am

      Try to add more cooking time until its crispy. One method that I do is placing some ice cubes in the hot oil to speed the process but I won’t recommend it if you are new to this stuff.

      Reply
    • marlene says

      Posted on 9/15/10 at 9:40 am

      well that is simple try to put in first the broiled liempo into the freezer at least over night…then the next day deep fry the pork..you will see the difference

      Reply
  11. nancy richardson says

    Posted on 5/5/10 at 11:32 pm

    You can cook lechon kawali in the over or turbo broiler. For 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of liempo, preheat the over for 475F. place liempo in the roasting pan skin side up and roast for 20 min and reduce to 400F for 40-45 min or until skin is crispy. Turbo broiler is 475F for 30 minutes or until the desired crispiness.

    Reply
  12. dondi says

    Posted on 4/11/10 at 1:39 am

    oi! taga bene ka rin pala…ive been a fan of this site…great recipes! simple lng….wat if i dont have lechon left over can i do it form scratch?

    Reply
    • Panlasang Pinoy says

      Posted on 4/11/10 at 10:07 am

      Dondi, lechon kawali needs raw ingredients. Is this question intended for the lechon paksiw? If so, try making lechon kawali first . If there are left overs, make lechon paksiw out of them. Hope this helps.

      Reply
    • maria erwhina says

      Posted on 4/18/10 at 2:59 am

      Hi! im also from bene…batch 94… i will try this recipe today..thanks for uploading!=)

      Reply
  13. Claire says

    Posted on 2/24/10 at 7:33 pm

    I’m making this when my pinay friends are coming over. We’re planning to have a lunch date at my house so try ko ito. Thanks Vanjo for this simple recipe.

    Reply
    • Panlasang Pinoy says

      Posted on 2/24/10 at 10:44 pm

      You’re welcome Claire. Invited din ba kami 🙂 ?

      Reply
  14. jhai says

    Posted on 9/26/09 at 9:52 pm

    I like lechon kawali to share with my family & friends, I tried so many recipes from deep frying, to baking, to even consider catering it in by professionals… but NO MORE!!! This recipe is the REAL… REAL DEAL!!! no one’s believin’ me that I didn’t cater the party… LOL…

    I’m hooked on your website now and my husband too!!!
    May be the chef has to have reference links to weight loss websites for those people that cannot stop trying all the recipes on this website… like me 😀 😀 😀

    Mabuhay po kayo!

    Reply
  15. Panlasang Pinoy says

    Posted on 9/19/09 at 1:29 pm

    you’re welcome ellaine. Thanks for commenting

    Reply
  16. amanda says

    Posted on 8/21/09 at 12:54 pm

    Hi! I would love to try this but not into fried foods. Can you give me tips on how to cook this using the oven? Thanks

    Reply
    • Rachel says

      Posted on 1/5/11 at 1:35 am

      i use a convection oven or turbo broiler. after boiling the pork at 160-170 deg., place it in the oven for 30 minutes on each side. the side with the skin you can broil last until crisp.

      Reply
  17. Benz says

    Posted on 8/1/09 at 5:57 pm

    By the way, is there an english version of your video? =)

    Reply
  18. Benz says

    Posted on 8/1/09 at 5:54 pm

    I’m about to make this for dinner. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

    Gracias,
    -From San Diego

    Reply
  19. Panlasang Pinoy says

    Posted on 7/31/09 at 10:49 am

    Ann, thanks for your appreciation. Don’t worry, nandito lang ako basta nandyan kayo lagi.

    Reply
  20. shandyspark says

    Posted on 7/14/09 at 2:27 pm

    OMG. This lechon kawali makes my taste buds crazy…

    Reply
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As a huge fan of Filipino food, it is my goal to teach people how to cook it using the simplest way possible. Prepare your taste buds for an ultimate showdown of delectable Filipino dishes! Read more…

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