How to Cook Perfect Lechon Kawali (With the Secret to Blistered Skin)

The skin is the whole dish. Perfect lechon kawali has blisters all over it, pale gold and brittle, and it shatters under the cleaver instead of bending. The secret isn't the oil — it's getting the skin bone dry before it ever meets the oil. Boil the belly gently with salt, garlic, peppercorns and bay, then dry it on a rack in the refrigerator UNCOVERED overnight, then fry it twice: low to render, hot to blister. Wet skin doesn't just go leathery, it makes the oil erupt, which is why this video also covers how to fry it safely. I'm Lorna, Tita Lorna, born in Pampanga and cooking for my family in California for thirty-one years. In my first video I told you to buy this already made. Today I'm teaching you to make it. Recipe (feeds 5 to 6): • 3 lb pork belly in ONE slab, SKIN ON (ask for liempo; skinless is useless here). Look for even layers, 1½ to 2 inches thick. • Boil: water to cover + 1 tbsp salt + 1 head garlic smashed + 1 tbsp peppercorns + 4–5 bay leaves. Gentle simmer 45–60 min, never a hard boil. • Pat very dry, prick the skin all over with a fork, then rack it UNCOVERED in the refrigerator 12–24 hours. This step is the whole video. • Before frying: rub the skin with salt and ½ tsp baking soda. Cut into 2–3 large pieces. • FIRST FRY: 300°F, 15–20 minutes — rendering, not browning. • REST 15 minutes. • SECOND FRY: 375°F, 3–5 minutes, until the skin puffs and pops like rain on a roof. • Rest 10 minutes before chopping, then chop into thick squares and stand them up so the layers show. Safety (please read): deep pot, never more than half full of oil. Dry the meat, then dry it again. Keep a lid within arm's reach — if oil catches fire you slide the lid on and kill the heat, NEVER water. Lay the meat in away from you. No kids in the kitchen for this part. Air fryer version: same boil and same overnight dry, then 400°F for 25–30 minutes, turning once. Oven: 450°F on a rack for 40–50 minutes, then a careful minute or two under the broiler. Sauces: Mang Tomas, or vinegar with crushed garlic, onion, pepper and chili, or toyomansi. Leftovers: store UNCOVERED in the fridge (a sealed container steams your crackling soft). Revive in the air fryer or a hot oven, never the microwave. Then turn it into sisig, or lechon paksiw simmered in Mang Tomas, vinegar, garlic and sugar. Chapters: 0:00 That sound 0:20 I owe you this one 1:10 What we're really chasing: the skin 2:10 The villain is water (and why the oil erupts) 3:10 Buying the right slab 4:40 Step 1: boil it gently 5:40 Step 2: dry it overnight (the secret) 7:00 Salt, baking soda and cutting it up 7:50 The two-stage fry 9:30 The safety talk (and the air fryer version) 11:20 Chopping and the sauces 12:30 4 ways it goes wrong 13:20 The taste test 14:00 When Filipinos actually make this 15:00 Bagnet, sisig and lechon paksiw 16:10 Deep fry, air fryer, or oven? Deep fry, air fryer, or oven? And what's in your dipping sauce — Mang Tomas or vinegar with garlic? I read every comment. Next video: lumpiang shanghai, and the trick that keeps them crispy for hours.