Inihaw na Liempo
For as long as I can remember, my family always had some kind of inihaw at every gathering. One favorite was inihaw na liempo, so naturally it would appear at the Noche Buena spread. Inihaw na liempo is ubiquitous in the Philippines where pork is king. It’s an equalizer—rich or poor, everyone loves it. I distinctly remember eating a piece that just came off the charcoal grill: it had some serious char & had the perfect balance of crisp & chewy textures, of salt & acid. On its own, it was already delicious but could be enhanced with a dunk in some sinamak or toyomansi.
Preparation for this dish is simple: you marinate pork belly & you grill it. When I was chatting with family members about how the marinade was prepared, I received a few variations: with soy, with salt, with vinegar, with calamansi. The basics include some sort of acid, some form of salt, garlic & pepper with varying ratios of each ingredient. In short, everyone has their own way of doing it so I followed suit.
I like liempo more acid forward so I do a 2:1 ratio of acid to salt. In this case, I used sugarcane vinegar and tamari. Sugarcane vinegar, native to the Ilocos region of the Philippines, is reminiscent of sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Then I added crushed garlic cloves, black pepper & liempo slices. Marination time varies, but anywhere between 6-8 hours works. Depending on thickness of the slices, the cook time will vary. On my stovetop grill, it usually takes only a few minutes on each side before they’re ready to be enjoyed with rice & sawsawan (sinamak from @magnapdx) of choice.
Having to think & dig & write about this has brought back so many happy memories of me celebrating the Advent Season with my family both in the Philippines & back in California. It’s such a simple dish, but cooking it makes me feel a little closer to them at a time when it’s not so simple to just catch a flight to see them. Hopefully, I’ll be able to see them soon, but until then I’ll be cooking for comfort and creating my own Noche Buena memories with my little family here.
More soon. In the meantime, we’d love to hear about some dishes you make during the holiday season!
🖤Jane
INGREDIENTS
Pork Belly, cut in 1/2 inch thick strips
Soy Sauce or Tamari
Sugarcane Vinegar (can substitute Apple Cider Vinegar)
Garlic, peeled and smashed
Black Pepper
Salt
Sinamak, for dipping
METHOD
STEP 1
With a ratio of 2:1 Vinegar to Soy Sauce (or Tamari), combine enough to fill shallow baking dish. Lay the pork belly flat. There should be enough liquid so the pork belly is immersed but not entirely covered. Add garlic (how much depends on the amount of pork and your love for garlic) and a generous amount of black pepper. Cover and refrigerate for as little as an hour but ideally, the longer, the better so if you have time, marinate overnight. Turn the meat in the marinade periodically so that both sides get some love.
STEP 2
An hour before cooking, remove the marinated pork belly from the refrigerator to bring it to room temperature. Lay the meat on a sheet pan with a rack to let the excess marinade drain before cooking.
STEP 3
Heat up your grill pan or outdoor grill to a high heat. You want to make sure the pan or grill is hot so you can get a sear. When the grill is hot, add the marinated pork belly and cook until each side achieves caramelization and has a bit of sear. We tend to like our liempo caramelized but not burnt. There is an amazing texture that is achieved when this happens. Since these pork belly pieces aren’t very thick, cooking can happen fast so stay on top of this.
STEP 4
When done, remove from heat and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving to let the juices redistribute and keep the meat moist. Serve with rice and some Sinamak and you’ve got yourself a perfect meal.