This Lechon sa Hurno recipe is a simplified version of the traditional way of cooking it. Traditionally, the pork belly is marinated or stuffed with herbs and spices then baked in the oven for several hours. However, I don’t have the luxury of time to do that today.
Today, it’s only me and my dad who were left at home. My mom went to our province and my brother went to his wife. Most of the time, we would end up eating sardines since I’m too lazy too cook. However, this morning I just thought of eating crispy lechon so I ended up cooking it.
Since I don’t have the time to marinate the pork, I decided to simmer the pork belly in herbs and spices until fork tender. This is also the first step in preparing lechon kawali. Then, I baked the pork belly in the oven until the skin is crispy.
The pork turned out soft and juicy. The skin is undeniably sinfully crispy. But hey! You don’t get to eat it everyday. It’s okay to be sinful from time to time, right?
Tips
The secret in cooking this lechon sa hurno recipe is getting the right type of meat. The ideal meat is the pork belly or the lechon kawali cut. The good news is, Puregold has a wide varieties of cut of meat to choose from and they are really good. I highly suggest their meat section compared to the wet market or even to other groceries. They have the pork belly cut but I opted with the lechon kawali cut. They are both from pork belly but the lechon kawali cut has some ribs attached to the meat.
You need to really season your meat. I find that a fourth cup of salt is enough to give the meat the right saltiness. You also need lots of herbs and spices to flavor the meat. You can go add Italian seasoning if you want but I love ginger and lemongrass in my pork belly so I stick to it. The ginger and lemongrass gives the meat a nice cool spicy flavor.
After simmering the meat, you need to pat dry the meat or slightly cool it for 10 minutes. An electric fan would be a great help. Light score the pork skin so it will be easy for you to cut it later.
The secret and proven effective way to make the skin crispy is to baste it with oil and sprinkle some rock salts but not too much. The rock salt really helps to the skin to pop out. You’ll hear to “pop” sound while cooking it in the oven. The oven! The oven should be at maximum and a convection oven with upper heating element switched on is a big help.
For more lechon dishes check out my Lechon Recipes.
Ingredients
| 1 kilo | Pork Belly Slab |
| 8 cloves | Garlic, chopped |
| 1 bulb | Onion, chopped |
| 2 pieces | Thumb – sized Ginger, thinly sliced |
| 1 stalk | Lemongrass, lightly crushed |
| 1/4 cup | Salt |
| 1/4 teaspoon | Ground Black Pepper |
| 2 – 3 cups | Water |
| Oil for Basting | |
| Salt |
Procedure
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Celsius.
Thoroughly clean the pork belly slab.
In a pot, combine garlic, onion, ginger, lemongrass, salt, ground black pepper, water and pork belly slab. Boil and simmer until pork belly is tender.
Pat dry the pork belly slab. Score the skin of the pork belly. Baste some oil and sprinkle some salt. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the skin is crispy.
Served with pinakurat vinegar or liver sauce.
Lechon sa Hurno
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Celsius.
- Thoroughly clean the pork belly slab.
- In a pot, combine garlic, onion, ginger, lemongrass, salt, ground black pepper, water and pork belly slab. Boil and simmer until pork belly is tender.
- Pat dry the pork belly slab. Score the skin of the pork belly. Baste some oil and sprinkle some salt. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the skin is crispy.
- Served with pinakurat vinegar or liver sauce.
