Lechon Pork Belly

Lechon Pork Belly

Myself and my friend Erica made a short road trip out to Pell City to Erica’s mom’s house to make some oven baked Lechon.  As usual, we had some good laughs making some good food. Pork belly is the bacon part (in case you did not know) and lends itself to making some really tasty lechon dishes.

Try it out for yourself. You’ll make pork belly a regular, I promise! Recipe follows!

MJ

Lechon Pork Belly Recipe

Lechon Pork Belly Ingredients

1. 5 lbs. pork belly, (whole with skin – I bought mine at Mi Pueblo Mexican grocery store)
2. Water, we used two cups but you may need more or less
3. Lemon
4. Scallions
5. Lemon grass
6. Onion
7. Thyme
8. Garlic
9. Bay leaf (6-8)
10. Salt and pepper
11. Soy sauce

Lechon Pork Belly Materials List

1. Twine for tying the meat once you roll it
2. Roasting pan with a baking rack

Procedures

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/ 204 degrees C .

Wash the pork belly thoroughly and pat it dry with paper towel. Pour the salt and pepper back to back on both sides.  Follow with the lemon.  Squeeze out all the juice on to the meat.  Rub the seasonings into the meat thoroughly. Then add the soy sauce.

Once the meat is marinated put the rest of the ingredients in the center of the pork belly down the long side.  Fold them inside the meat, skin side out, rolling it until the edges of the pork belly meet.  Then its ready to tied together using twine. You may have to play with it a bit.

What you are trying to achieve is to make sure you have a tight wrap so that the seasonings will not fall out of the pork belly when you flip it over during cooking. Make sure the twine is very tight.

Add water to the baking pan and put the meat on the top of the rack . Bake for 2 hrs with the stitches facing up.  After 2 hrs roll the meat or flip it so the stitches are now facing down. Bake for another hour.

After these 3 hrs the pork belly should be ready. Use a thermometer to make sure the internal temperature reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Change the heat to broil. Broil time is for 3-5 minutes pay attention to it so, it wont burn. What you are trying to do here is crisp the skin so you will have to flip it after just a few minutes. Then take the lechon out immediately. Caution! It’s hot!

Enjoy!

MJ