Lechon Liempo: Perfect Filipino Crispy Stuffed Pork Belly
Lechon pork belly with crispy skin, adapted from sources including Serious Eats and Panlasang Pinoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 boneless pork belly skin ON, about 6 lb
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cloves fresh garlic minced
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 4 stalks fresh lemongrass tough outer leaves removed, root end trimmed off (or about 1/3 C chopped, frozen lemongrass)
Instructions
- With the skin-side up, use the tip of a very sharp knife to poke through the skin of the pork belly all over. This will help the fat render and will self-baste the dish.
- Flip the belly over and score the flesh deeply with the sharp knife.
- Rub the minced garlic all over the meat, pressing it into the cuts you made.
- Season the meat side of the belly generously with salt and pepper.
- Scatter the onions all over the surface of the meat.
- Crush the lemongrass talks with the blunt back of a knife. Lay half of them with their root-ends against one short side of the belly, and the other half against the other side. If you want to trim them so that they don't stick out, you can, but it makes a nice presentation to leave the excess leaves on.
- Roll the belly along its long axis.
- For the tightest roll, use a few metal skewers before you tie. Insert the skewer through the first layer of belly, pointing slightly toward yourself, then wedge it against the second layer, pull back on it, and push it through, leveraging the roll closed. (Make a small slit with a knife if needed to push the skewer through the first layer.)
- Then go through with butcher's twine and tie tightly between each skewer.
- Preheat your grill with two hot zones and a "cool" zone in the middle. Put an aluminum pan in the middle and set up the air probe from your Smoke X over the cooler zone. Attach your Billows BBQ-Control Fan to the grill and set the air temp to 350°F (177°C).
- Place the pork in the indirect zone and insert a probe down the center axis into the pork. Set the high-temp alarm for 195°F (91°C). Close the lid and set a timer for 15 minutes.
- When the timer sounds, open the grill and turn the belly 90° along its axis. Close the grill and continue to cook, setting another 15 minute timer. Continue in this manner until the high-temp alarm sounds.
- When the alarm sounds, use your Thermapen ONE to verify that you see no temp lower than 195°F (91°C).
- Move the roll off the grill while you rearrange the charcoal into one low, flat, central pile. Remove the probes from the meat and the grill.
- Place the lechon back on the grill over the coals. Watch it carefully and when you see it start to bubble, roll it/turn it. You want to carefully make the whole skin crispy and bubbly.
- Remove the pork from the grill to a large bed of rice for serving.
- Slice the pork and serve it up!
