Roasted Pork Belly (Lechon Liempo)

Roasted Pork Belly or Lechon Liempo is one of the dishes that we enjoyed during 2016 New Year’s eve dinner. I have lots of different version that I wanted to share with you, and I thought of starting with this simple foolproof Roasted Pork recipe.

This Lechon Pork belly is cooked using the oven; it is different from the traditional way of preparing lechon, which is to roast over a bed of hot charcoal and continuously rotate until the skin gets brown and crunchy. I tried to make it as simple as possible this time.

How to Make Roasted Pork Belly (Lechon Liempo)

I started out by choosing the perfect pork belly slab from my local supermarket. You can request your butcher to remove the ribs from the pork belly, or you can also do it yourself. Next is to rub salt and pepper all over the meat part of the belly. I used coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. The trick is to let the salt and pepper stay for 15 to 30 minutes so that the meat can absorb the flavor better.

The greenish and dark stuff that you see in the middle of the picture are lemongrass, scallions, and red onions respectively. Simply arrange these ingredients on the pork belly and then roll the entire slab until it forms a spiral shaped figure. Once you have done this, it is time to tie the meat so that it can hold its shape. I used kitchen twine to tie the meat. Just to make sure that it will hold it shape, I secured it six times that’s why it kinda looks like the Michelin Man.

Try this Roasted Pork Belly (Lechon Liempo) Recipe. Enjoy!

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5 from 2 votes

Roasted Pork Belly (Lechon Liempo)

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes

Servings 8

Author Vanjo Merano

Ingredients

• 1 slab 5 lbs. pork belly bones removed
• 3 stalks lemongrass leaves
• 3 pieces scallions
• 1 small red onion sliced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Instructions

• Lay the pork belly on a flat surface in a way that the side with the skin is facing down. Rub the salt and pepper all over the top of the pork belly (meat part). Let it stand for 15 minutes.
• Arrange the lemongrass, scallions, and onion slices on one one of the belly. Roll the side where you had the lemongrass all the way to the opposite side until a spiral shape is formed. Secure the rolled pork belly by tying it with a kitchen twine. Rub the oil all over the skin.
• Preheat oven to 350F. Arrange the pork belly in a roasting pan and roast for 2 hours.
• Remove the belly from the oven and brush with fresh milk. Put it back into the oven and continue to roast for 30 minutes or until the skin is brown and crispy.
• Remove from the oven. Let it cool down for 15 minutes. Slice the Roasted Pork Belly and serve with homemade lechon sauce.
• Share and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 8g