Comments on: Five Roasted Pork Bellies (Liempo) a la Marketman

By: emily

emily — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:40:45 +0000

so lucky to have found your site! wondering if you have any tips for inihaw na baboy?

what cut of meat to use – belly or chuck?
should I brine if it will sit in a vinegar based marinade?
how long to marinade in vinegar?
how long to cook over hot grill?

thanks so much!

By: Malyn

Malyn — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:42:43 +0000

Hi MM! Thank you for the inspiration. Learned of Balamban liempo from your blog and got to taste it when we went to Cebu next (and the next trips after hehehe). Tonight this was dinner. I used a gas-fired oven rotisserie which gave me moist and tender meat. I still have to perfect crisp skin all through out though. Some parts remained soft and a bit chewy. All in all it was such a hit that I was not even able to take a picture. My husband and 2 girls even said they prefer it over the “original” version we always eat when in Cebu (talk about loyalists hahaha!)

My oven is small and would not fit the other piece of liempo, so i boiled it with the aromatics still inside. Will oven roast it tomorrow and see how it turns out. Thank you for untiringly sharing your cooking exploits, experiments and victories to all of us! God bless you and yours!

By: A.B.

A.B. — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:48:11 +0000

Hi, MM. I was in Cebu last week and was lucky enough to try Balamban liempo from Kristian’s. I found it really inspiring so I decided to make one earlier. I borrowed your photo here to illustrate my goal (see: https://www.twitpic.com/photos/weekendkusinera). I just used a turbo broiler and I’m glad it turned out pretty okay. Thanks! :)

By: Mariel

Mariel — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:39:38 +0000

Wow the one with bagoong looks good. I can’t wait to try this on Saturday for my daughter’s first birthday. Thanks for the recipe MM. =)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:23:36 +0000

marivi, so glad to hear this worked out for you… just shows that we should ALL experiment with our food more… it often yields wonderful results… :)

By: marivi

marivi — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:05:32 +0000

So because I’m stubborn, I went ahead and adapted your pork belly with bagoong recipe to a similar recipe that was oven baked and it was fabulous. Served it to two Anglo dinner guests who inhaled all 4 pounds, and the pork skin was perfection. Here’s my adaptation for anyone who is spit-and-open-fire challenged:

Brine pork belly as directed by MM, 1 hour. Pat dry then score skin and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let sit for at least half an hour, then make those little pockets in the flesh and stuff with bagoong. Put skin down in a roasting pan that has been very liberally greased with olive oil and roast in a preheated 400 degree oven for a half hour. Turn heat down to 375, and let roast for another 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on weight), still skin down. In the last half hour, flip the meat over to crisp the skin. You may want to remove some of the rendered fat and oil that will now be filling the roasting pan. Crisping the skin should take between 15 – 20 minutes.

It was the best facsimile of a lechon that I’ve ever had outside of Manila. Thanks for the recipe!

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:07:27 +0000

marivi, I have other recipes for pork belly in an oven in the archives. This recipe will not do too well in an oven unless you have a rotisserie, and even then, you lack the charcoal effect.

By: marivi

marivi — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:00:26 +0000

Hi Marketman,

Could you tell me how to adapt this recipe to an oven? I live in Southern California and there is a pitiful lack of open space for turning pork on a spit.

By: dragon

dragon — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:26:48 +0000

All I can say after reading these last 2 liempo posts: GRABE Ka MM!!!!

PS. After calculating how much your liempo was (roughly $5 Aussie per kilo) naiyak ako!

Time to cleanse the system…

By: iceman

iceman — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:00:05 +0000

man, it is just obsessive…it’s crazy genius. i can only imagine MM sleeping at night thinking still about food. hehehe.MM, i am wondering what is your favorite among the varieties.