This Lechon Kawali is boiled and deep-fried in hot oil to get that crispy skin. There’s Minimum prep time for the meat with fantastic results. Dip this crispy pork belly in Lechon sauce, with a plate lined with rice balls. This is the ultimate comfort food!
Lechon Kawali
Lechon Kawali is a famous Filipino appetizer with pork belly as the Main Ingredient. I love this meal so much!
Although cooking Lechon Kawali takes a lot of precaution, due to oil splatter, different measures can be done in order to cook this favorite crispy pork belly at home.
Lechon Kawali, also known as Lechon Carajay, is a famous appetizer in the Philippines. The pork belly, with the rind still intact, is deep-fried in a pan (kawali) until it turns into a golden color. This meal is eaten as a snack and can be the main meal in itself.
There are so many ways to cook Lechon Kawali. You can make it by air frying, or you can bake this in the oven -similar to this Chinese Pork Belly I made a while back.
This is my recipe for Lechon Kawali that has been used by my family for generations. It is not rocket science; the goal is to achieve that crispy pork belly yum.
Fried pork belly is scorned upon by health nuts. It has high saturated fat that can not be good for your heart. But, keto dieters have embraced fried pork belly in their meals.
In my household, I consciously serve crispy fried pork belly once in a while, maybe once every six months. Aside from health reasons, making Lechon Kawali can be a messy feat. But whenever I get a hold of pork belly slab, I boil it and freeze it to stock on boiled pork belly when for a future pot luck, special occasion, or if an intense craving calls for it.
Equipment
- Heavy Bottomed Pot
- Medium-sized deep pot
- Wire rack
- Paper towels
- An electric deep fryer and Air Fryer (if you re using these)
Lechon Kawali Ingredients
- 3- 4Â lbs-Â a slab of Pork Belly Meat- with pork belly skin still intact you need a pork belly slab with the rind still intact. Slice the pork belly into cube pieces
- 5-10 cups of cold water- cover pork belly with cold water. Boiling the pork belly will make it soft and makes the skin crispy during deep frying. or just enough water to cover the meat
- 2-3 tablespoons salt or soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground pepper
- 4-5 cups of oil
- Bay leaves it to add flavor more flavor to seep through the pork belly.
How do you Make Lechon Kawali
- Meat Prep time is very easy and simple for making Lechon Kawali. Place pork belly on a flat surface pat dry the pork belly with paper towels, or air dry to remove excess liquid. Slice it into bite into the thick ribbon as shown in the picture.
- Place into a deep pot and cover the pork belly with cold water.
- Add the seasoning: salt, pepper and bay leaves, and soy sauce, if using.
- Boil the pork belly in medium-high heat and boil until the meat is fork-tender soft. When the meat is done, drain the water and let the meat cool or air-dried. Slice it into a bite-size cube and place it into a Ziploc. You can freeze the rest of the meat for your next use or if you are cooking it directly, just let it sit in the fridge for half day. Refrigerator overnight
- When ready to cook, slice the pork belly into 2 x 2 pieces and deep fry in hot heat oil.
- When you are about to flip the pork belly on the other side, lower the heat. Heat oil in a deep fryer and deep fry the pork belly until golden brown or when it looks crunchy.
- You can let the pork belly fried pieces drain in a wire rack, or place it in a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
Lechon Kawali Safety Cooking Measures
Precaution is needed when you cooked Lechon Kawali. Since the pork belly is cooked in hot oil and the splatter of oil can contact your skin, there are different ways to cook Lechon Kawali. Some cook it in the air fryer, some bake it in the oven and I cooked mine in an electric air fryer. In the Philippines, we cooked it directly with an open pot, which could get really dangerous. So here are some tips for your safety.
- The air fryer can be a great option here. An electric or instant pot air fryer with the lid can minimize our splatter skin burn.
- If you can cook, or deep fry Lechon Kawali outside, this is the most ideal. There will be splatters of hot oil that can go in all directions. You don’t want oil all over your kitchen.
- If you have the cover deep fryer, use that. I got my electric air fryer on sale for $10 bucks. And I have been using it for twenty years now.
- The oven bakes or cooks it in the air fryer. This Chinese Pork Belly I made before has crispy skin and is so good. You can make that instead.
- But if you opt for the open pot cook option, make sure to deep fry the Lechon Kawali with lots of oil. And don’t cover it. Have the kids stay far from the cooking area. Wear something that will not catch the pan and tip the pot with hot oil, like a bathrobe, laced sleeves, or loose sleeves. When you turn the pork belly, cover your face, or skin some safety gear… a cooking pot cover can do the trick, and wearing a long sleeve can help too. Oil splatters still pass through the splatter screen, so that is useless here, not helpful at all. Use the longest tong you got to make you stay far from the pot. These are the sacrifices to achieve that crispy, golden brown pork skin. Cooking time depends on when the meat turns golden
Cooking tips
- After boiling, let the pork belly meat cool down and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a ziplock and refrigerate overnight.
- Buy a boneless pork belly with a good ribbon of belly fat and lean meat.
Common Lechon Kawali Questions
How do you keep Lechon Kawali crispy?
- It is advisable to eat the cooked Lechon Kawali immediately after deep frying. If it happens that you have Lechon Kawali leftovers, place them in a tight container and leave it at room temperature. Consume within three days.
Should I boil the pork belly meat?
- Boiling the pork belly skin and makes the meat really soft, therefore making a crispy skin after deep frying.
How to Serve
- Serve with vinegar with garlic and white rice or mashed potatoes
- Simply dip I soy sauce add flavor
For more Pork Belly Recipe
- Chinese Pork belly -this recipe uses a lot of salt. In fact, it uses one cup of salt. The pork belly is oven-baked for one hour on a baking sheet
- Belly roll– The pork belly slab is rolled into a log and tied with kitchen twine. The pork belly is seasoned with herbs and spices is also oven-baked.
- Lechon Kawali Paksiw– If there is a Lechon Kawali leftover, make it into Lechon Kawali Paksiw. The leftover fried pork belly is braised in low heat with vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, water, salt, and pepper.
Lechon Kawali
Equipment
- Heavy Bottomed Pot or Medium-sized deep pot
- Wire rack
- Paper towels
- Electric deep fryer or Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 3- 4 lbs Pork Belly Meat
- 5-10 cups of water
- 1/8 cup of water
- 2-3 tablespoons salt or soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground pepper
- 4-5 cups of oil
- bay leaves optional
Instructions
- Put pork belly in a large cooking pot and add water. Add in salt and pepper and bay leaves if using.Boil until the meat is soft. When the meat is done, drain the water and let the meat cool.Slice it into two and place it into a Ziploc. You can freeze the rest of the meat for next use or if you are cooking it directly, just let it sit in the fridge for half day. Pat dry the cooked pork belly with paper towels.When ready to cook, slice the pork belly into 2 x 2 pieces. Add in the cooking oil in the electric deep fryer.Heat oil in high temperature and deep fry the pork belly until golden brown or when it looks crunchy.Let the excess oil drain in a paper towel or wire rack.
Video
That is very interesting.Thanks for the visit.
My Mom often made Red Eye Gravy from the skillet left over. It’s made with a small amount of coffee added in and served over grits. Sounds strange but wonderful.
Hi, Lonnie. The sauce is just a fish sauce with lots of garlic in it.
Thanks for visiting the site and MERRY CHRISTMAS.
What’s the sauce on the side if you don’t mind me asking?
Hi! I got it from Walmart on sale.It’s Cool Daddy Pesto brand.
May I know what is the brand name of your deep fryer ? Thanks a lot, I want to buy one.
Wow, the description of gravy from the skillet sound sooooo good! Yes, it tastes like heaven. So delicious. Yum.
Pork belly is a great secret of the South also! Growing up my grandparents raised hogs. We always had pork belly, It was usually “salted down” to preserve it. A “slab” was kept in the fridge to season pinto beans when cooking them. We called it streaked meat. We occasionally had it for breakfast too. My mom used to wash the extra salt off, slice it about 1/4″ thick slices, soak in buttermilk for a few minutes. Sometimes she would flour the slices, sometimes not, and fry it crisp. THEN, she made gravy in the skillet where the meat was fried. Oh my! Talk about heaven! Streaked meat, biscuits and gravy! YUM!! Even better if you had a home grown tomato sliced to eat with it.
You are welcome. I hope you will enjoy this Lechon Kawali recipe. And thank you for sharing. Where did you bump into this recipe? Is it in Pinterest or in FB? Take care Jocelyn and also watch out for those oil splatters. They hurt. 🙂
This looks amazingly good .I myself a pilipina and I usually do like what you doing by boiling it first..then fry them ina deep fryer.Its really good though..I recommended this recipe ..thanks for all your good tips..Can’t wait to try this one..
yes!
Do you have to cook the pork belly before you deep fry it if you are making it right away?
Tender or soft is perfect for deep frying. Just make sure that you tap the meat dry before deep frying.
Hello, there! When you say boil until soft…approximately how long did yours take? Do you mean tender?? I know that pork belly is a pretty tough cut thAt can take a while. Thanks!
I never heard of this recipe but it does sounds interesting. It’s something that my hubby would like very much. It surely looks crispy.
Oh, My. God. This looks amazing :O I’ve never had fried pork belly before (unless you count bacon of course, but I’ve never had it prepared fresh like this 😀 ) Such a delicious treat and perfect with a little dip. Yum!
Oh my goodness, this was one of my mom’s specialties!! She never wanted to share the recipe with me, so I will be sure to try this!
Your uncle was one smart man!! Cubing the pork would make it fry nicer and it is easier to try to eat cubes than a large slice. I bet once you fried it up there wasn’t any leftover. It would be a favorite anywhere.
That sounds and looks so delicious and tasty. I have never made pork belly myself but it sounds incredible. Love Filipino food so this is on my list of must try soon. Saving for later
This looks a lot like something we used to eat when I was a child growing up in Georgia. My mom also used something like this in beans as extra seasoning. Looks a lot like bacon.
PORK BELLY is the BEST!! This is a winner for sure. Crispy pork belly is so delicious. What a great way to showcase this delicious cut of meat….and this would be gone in a flash!!
Cool. Watch out for oil splatters 🙂
this sounds really tasty, I am thinking it tastes like a crispy bacon? I would love to try this I actually have pork belly marinating right now.
Yes, it splatters everywhere, so I bought a sealed deep fryer just for this…
It is really good.
My stepmother-in-law was Phillipino but I don’t recall seeing this dish. I am not familiar with it but it sounds a lot like frying bacon, which I hate because it splatters.
Wow, his deep fried pork belly looks so delicious, I really want to try this now!
Oh my goodness, that pork belly looks seriously crispy! Id love to give it a bite!
Looks delicious and very nicely fried up. I like fried foods and makes more often but just like as you said it makes kitchen a mess. when we make plantain chips we add water to crisp it up. thanks for sharing a delicious recipe.
Oh this looks fantastic! This is such a treat for me but I would love this right now!
Have never deep fried pork belly before..we always make it in the oven.Will defo try it this way..great photos too☺
While I’ve eaten this dish (I’m from NZ – nice and close by the Philippines!) I’ve never actually made it myself. I’m not Filipino, but you’ve got me craving this!
I think your uncle is onto something by cutting it into cubes. Get all that surface area crispy. Love this!
Ohhh I was just wondering to myself how does one make pork belly, and this is a great recipe! I’ve only ever gotten the pre-cured Trader Joe’s version. So, tasty, but not very interesting. Great job!
There must be a lot of people craving fried pork belly lately, because I’m seeing it all over the place. Good of you to show us how to make it and satisfy those cravings! LOL
Oh. My. Goodness. This. Looks. Amazing!! I have yet to be able to find pork belly, but this is new inspiration to look harder!!
I’ve actually never tried this, but it looks delicious! I’ll have to try it out soon!
This would be something my family could really get into. Crispy and good — that sounds so appetizing. We’ve thought of making some bacon out of pork belly but I love the idea of frying it. YUM!! Will have to try it out.
I am embarrassed to say I have never every eaten pork belly. I have heard so much about it but never indulged in – Next time I have an opportunity I will definitely try some because this looks so good.
Oh yes, pork belly it tastes so good. Just crunchy when it is just fried. Yum
Ok…Pork Belly is the best thing EVER!! Such a delicious cut of meat. This sounds so crispy….the perfect way to enjoy it.
I have never heard of this before and enjoyed your story! I think I will try to find it on the menu sometime – I am not prepared to make it myself 😉
Wow, yum! This sounds amazing. I love pork belly, it’s like the perfect piece of flavorful tasty bite! I love it fried like this.
This is great. You can make it without a big production. You can find most of these ingredients in your cabinet!
You’re welcome!!! Please be careful with the oil splatter. It can burn you. Use electric fryer that has cover if you have one.Good luck!
This will be my first time ever and I am 62 years old . Looks so great have got to try it. I’ll let you know. Thanks for sharing.
My fryer has Automatic temperature setting; no controls to set.Indicator light lets me know when the oil is ready. Since yours is different, you can set it to 350 to 375 F.
I just got a deep fryer from walmart as well. What was the temperature of your oil that u set to?
Hi, Cynthia. I usually boil it until soft. When I use the crock pot, it is already soft n 4 hours.
How long do you boil the pork belly?
Mart,I added 2 teaspoons of pepper on it.
Instructions say add salt and pepper but under ingredients, it doesn’t list the pepper and how much
I would like to see how that ‘s done I will visit your blog when I am off…. I am Cebuana too or, went to college there. Nice meeting you !!
OMG I was laughing so hard about the ninja part LOL!!! I totally can relate to the dangers of deep frying pork belly just to make lechon kawali. I’m from Cebu and we have this pork belly dish called “pinakupsan”. It’s actually very similar to lechon kawali, only that you render the fat and fry the meat in its own oil till it turna brown and crispy. You can check it out in my blog. It’s my favorite way of cooking pork belly. Much safer than making lechon kawali in my opinion.
Thank you, Brian
Oh boy does this sound terribly good and I am sitting on some pork belly trying to decide what to do with it next… This may very well make the cut, sounds amazing 🙂
Thank you, Shivani.
Nice description with pics…fabulous.
it is worth a try but if you got a deep fryer
That looks interesting. A friend of mine was just talking about roasting (I think…) pork belly – I’m starting to get interesting in all the ways it can be cooked *other than* our ubiquitous cured bacon. I’m going to have to go play…
Thanks!
The step by step is great. The pork belly looks great.
Yup, try it and you will surely love it. I no longer don the ninja costume, but I still have the ninja moves lol
I’ve never had pork belly! I don’t know why not. We get 1/2 a hog processed every year at the local meat locker. You would think that would come with pork belly. I really enjoyed reading your experience of cooking it ninja style. Hope that you had stealthy enough ninja moves to avoid all the grease splatters.
Hahaha. I would eat it everyday too if it is not as sinful but for now, I only have it once in awhile
Fried pork belly is the best, I can eat it every day, my grandparents make it all the time and is such a treat when I can have it!