Thanks to over 300 years of Spanish occupation and influence, Filipino culinary artists have perfected numerous pork dishes. Whether you are out to enjoy adobo, barbecue, or noodles and lumpia and everything between, pork is king throughout the islands of the Philippines. While barbecue ribs, pulled pork, pork chops, and even ham are popular among the global population, pork belly towers above all in terms of meat rankings and desired cuts. Italian Porchetta, Chinese Char Su, and even regular western-style bacon are just a few common pork belly variations, but if I had to choose a "stuck on a deserted island and you only get one food choice for life", Lechon Kawali, or Filipino-style Crispy Pork Belly, is easily my number one choice! Today's Crispy Pork Belly recipe is a take on the classic Filipino version, but we are putting it to the ultimate experiment with an Air Fryer versus Deep Fryer showdown. This one is for all the pork belly lovers out there....Let's Get Cooking!
To keep this Crispy Pork Belly recipe experiment as unbiased and equal as possible, we will prepare one large skin on pork belly sliced in half the exact same before the final cooking steps. It is important to note that this recipe requires a skin on belly. The skin is what will crisp during the frying process creating a crispy, crunchy layer on top of the juicy and tender meat.
We will begin by placing the pork belly, salt, soy sauce, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and garlic cloves in a large stockpot. Add enough water to completely submerge the pork belly and cover it with an additional 1 to 2 inches of water to account for any evaporation during the initial cooking process. It will likely float so you may have to add a plate or other weighted item that will keep the belly submerged.
Bring the seasoned water up to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a steady Simmer and set a timer for 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, the skin of the pork belly should be tender enough to pierce with a fork. Remove the belly from the cooking liquids and set on a wire rack to drain and cool for 15 minutes. Pro tip, save the cooking liquids for your next batch of ramen, pancit, or any other Asian noodle dish. Cooking the noodles in this pork belly fortified liquid adds a ton of flavor and touch of umami with no effort other than straining and saving the liquids!
After the pork belly has cooled somewhat, use paper towels or a kitchen cloth to pat the skin dry. Using the tip of a knife, a meat tenderizer with multiple prongs, or even a plain fork, poke the skin of the pork belly with as many holes as possible. Try to only poke the skin and not completely through to the meat layer beneath. It is hard to see in a picture, but the more holes the better. They will allow some air to penetrate the skin causing little bubbles of crispy perfection once fried. Go over the skin 2 or 3 times in every direction, then go back and do it again till you think the amount of holes is more than the amount of smooth skin remaining. You simply cannot poke too many holes!
Again, pat dry any remaining liquids that seeped through the skin during the poking process. Once the skin is completely dry, sprinkle a bit of white vinegar onto the skin and use your hand to rub it in and over the entire skin surface. Then, apply a liberal coat of kosher salt on top of the vinegar layer and spread it evenly. You should basically just be left with a full layer of salt and almost no skin showing through at this point.
Place the salted pork belly on the wire rack, uncovered, into your refrigerator and let it dry out overnight. If you see any liquids pooling, simply dab them with a paper towel and let the vinegar and salt continue to do their work! Ultimately, the dryer the better so do not rush this process. You can even let the pork belly dry out longer, say 12-18 hours, if you plan ahead accordingly. Once dry, remove the pork belly from the refrigerator and wipe off any remaining moisture and salt.
Up to this point, both the Air Fryer and Deep Fryer recipes have been exactly the same. It is time to split off and focus on the Air Fryer version by using aluminum foil to create a small container to hold in all the juices and fat that will render out of the pork belly while it cooks. You really don't want a pork fat swimming pool in your Air Fryer afterwards, just saying! You can use a normal baking pan or tray, but make sure it will fit inside your Air Fryer. I think the aluminum foil "boat" is easy and can be thrown away afterwards eliminating extra cleanup, but you do you! Oh, you might as well preheat your Air Fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit at this point while you play aluminum foil arts and crafts in the kitchen.
When your Air Fryer is up to temperature and your pork belly is cradled in its little grease cup, place the entire thing, skin side up of course, in the Air Fryer and cook it for 20 minutes. This should be plenty of time to crisp up the skin leaving a crunchy exterior and tender crust on top of juicy and tender meat! Every Air Fryer is a bit different of course, so check it at 20 minutes and adjust accordingly. Additionally, you can flip it over and crisp up the bottom meat side for an additional 10 minutes if you wish, but it's unnecessary and just makes the crispy skin get soggy ruining the entire principle of this dish. You may need to break out the big boy knife or cleaver to cut this Air Fryer Crispy Pork Belly because when I say crispy and crunchy I mean it is extra crispy and delicious! If you don't believe me, check out this quick clip below. Turn the volume up for some Air Fried Crispy Pork Belly AKA Lechon Kawali ASMR!
Hopefully, it comes out looking tasty like mine, though!
That wraps up the Air Fryer Crispy Pork Belly version of Lechon Kawali! Now, let's think back to the point where we let the pork belly skin dry out in the refrigerator overnight and jump over to the traditional Deep Fried version. Again, once your pork belly has rested uncovered in the refrigerator and the skin has dried out completely, wipe any remaining moisture and salt from the skin. Go ahead and preheat your frying oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit while you finish cleaning off the pork belly.
When the oil is up to temperature, carefully lower the pork belly down into the oil and fry it for 12 to 16 minutes, until the skin is golden and crispy and the internal temperature is at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, the size of your pork belly will affect this timing a bit more than Air Frying so watch it closely and use an instant read thermometer to perfectly fry up this Crispy Pork Belly! We still want the meat to be tender and juicy and not overcooked after all the effort to this point! Once you feel your pork belly is fully cooked and the skin has entered Crunch City, remove it from the hot oil and place it on a wire rack to drain and cool. My Deep-Fried skin on belly didn't poof up as much, but the overall flavor and crispiness was just about the exact same as the Air Fryer version, as heard below. Once again, turn the volume up for some Deep-Fried Crispy Pork Belly AKA Lechon Kawali ASMR!
Two delicious, extra crispy and crunchy pork bellies with tender and super juicy meat made using an Air Fryer and Deep Fryer! Taste-wise, they are pretty much spot on the same, minus a little influence of extra oil flavoring on the deep-fried version. Ultimately, it really just comes down to personal preference and any health concerns about excess oil/fat so whichever style Crispy Pork Belly you end up making from this experiment don't worry about choosing the lesser of two evils because both of these artery cloggers will leave you satiated and smiling from ear to ear in Flavortown Heaven! Now of course there is a special dipping sauce that is included on both recipe cards, but honestly I enjoyed my Crispy Pork Belly plain and was not disappointed whatsoever. You can eat this with just about any sauce you like so I won't bore you to death by saying add this and that together and stir till well blended. If you can pull off this recipe with minimal difficulty I think you are more than capable of mixing a sauce together without me holding your hand. That being said, be sure to give this one a try, folks. It honestly looks much more difficult than it is, and if you just read this walkthrough, I think you now realize the same. If there is any difficulty to making Crispy Pork Belly, it is just finding skin on pork belly itself as most grocery retailers only sell skinless bellies anymore, at least in the US. Check your local butcher or meat market, and if both of those come up empty there are plenty of great online butchers/resources that sell skin on pork bellies at a reasonable cost. No excuses, so fire up those Air Fryers and Deep Fryers to make your own Crispy Pork Belly at home....Just Keep Cooking!
AIR FRYER CRISPY PORK BELLY
DEEP FRIED CRISPY PORK BELLY
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