Name: Lechon belly
Total time: 3 h
Ingredients: 2.5kg pork belly with skin on; 5 garlic cloves, crushed; 25g of fresh ginger, finely chopped; 1 tbsp of soy sauce; 2 tbsp of cane vinegar; 4 spring onions; 2 sticks of lemongrass, bruised; 3 red chillies, stem removed; salt to season; freshly ground black pepper to taste; Mang Tomas to taste; 125ml of cane vinegar; 30ml of soy sauce; 12g of brown sugar; 1 red onion, finely diced; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Main
Easy
4-6
3 hours

PT3H

This lechon recipe by Budgie Montoya adapts a famous, celebratory Filipino dish. While it’s usually made with a whole suckling pig roasted over an open fire, this pork belly version is practical yet deliciously rich and full of aromatic garlic, chilli and lemongrass.

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2.5kg pork belly with skin on
5 garlic cloves , crushed
25g of fresh ginger , finely chopped
1 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of cane vinegar
4 spring onions
2 sticks of lemongrass , bruised
3 red chillies , stem removed
salt to season
freshly ground black pepper to taste

To serve

Mang Tomas to taste

Lechon Sawasan

125ml of cane vinegar
30ml of soy sauce
12g of brown sugar
1 red onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove , finely chopped

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Butcher's string
Wire rack

Preheat the oven to 160C fan/Gas 4

Make the lechon sawasan by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking until the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until the pork is ready

125ml of cane vinegar
30ml of soy sauce
12g of brown sugar
1 red onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove , finely chopped
1 red chilli , finely chopped

Prepare the pork belly by placing it on a flat surface with the skin facing down. Score the meat with a sharp knife, then season liberally and evenly with salt and black pepper

2.5kg pork belly with skin on
salt to season
black pepper to season

Rub the scored flesh with the crushed garlic, finely chopped ginger, soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar. This is easiest using your hands

4 garlic cloves
25g of fresh ginger
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of cane vinegar

Place the spring onions, lemongrass and chillies in the middle of the belly, horizontally

Roll the belly up and tie using butcher's string. Both ends of the belly should meet and not overlap

Place the rolled belly on a rack inside a roasting tray. Rub the skin with the remaining tablespoon of vinegar and season liberally with salt

1 tbsp of cane vinegar
salt to season

Place in the oven and cook until golden brown, roughly 3 to 3.5 hours

Remove from the oven and rest for around 10 mins, to allow the skin to become crisp

Transfer to a chopping board and remove the string before slicing and serving with the Mang Tomas and lechon sawasan dipping sauces

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Budgie Montoya

Since being blown away by a meal he enjoyed at The Fat Duck in 2009, Budgie Montoya has made it his mission to make people as happy as he felt that evening. Now, as one of the chefs at the forefront of London’s ever-evolving Filipino food scene, he’s doing exactly that.