Among the silog dishes served in the Philippines, lechonsilog is a latecomer. If I have to guess what gave birth to it, I’d say it’s competition. When the silog culture exploded, every eatery owner tried to outdo his rivals by serving not only the best possible version of tapsilog, the original silog dish, but by also coming up with enticing variants including lechonsilog.
So, what is this dish exactly? It’s a dish with three main components — lechon, fried rice and fried egg.
Lechon is roasted pig. It’s a festival and special occasion dish. It’s pricey so it’s not the lechon that goes on a breakfast plate that is served in even the humblest eatery. The lechon in lechonsilog is lechon kawali — deep fried pork belly with crispy puffy skin. In this recipe, however, we do away with the deep frying. We’ve been air frying our crispy pork belly for years now. Before there were air fryers, we used the oven.
Air fried lechon kawali (crispy pork belly)
Simmer a slab of pork belly, drain and transfer to the air fryer. Thirty minutes later, you have perfectly cooked crispy pork belly with crackling skin.
As for the rice, plain fried rice will do. But this is homecooking and there really is no reason to scrimp especially if the difference in cost is just a few pesos. I’m talking about the addition of garlic to rice, of course. It may just be a single ingredient but the difference in the cooked fried rice is immense. It’s not a lot of additional work so I urge you to opt for garlic fried rice in your lechonsilog.
Garlic fried rice
The default way of cooking fried rice in the Philippines is to flavor it with garlic. But to make the garlic flavor pop, the key is to flavor the oil in which the rice will be stir fried.
But for the ultimate experience, you need the best dipping sauces. Spicy soy sauce and vinegar, and the best lechon sauce, both of which are so easy to make at home.
Spicy soy vinegar dipping sauce does not require cooking. Just stir chopped onion, garlic, ginger and chili in soy sauce, vinegar and sugar.
Lechon sauce needs to be cooked. Among its ingredients is canned liver spread. The texture of commercial liver spread (or liver pâté) varies from brand to brand. Some contain more thickener (bread crumbs or flour) than others. How much water you should use to make the lechon sauce can be anywhere from one-fourth to half cup. Start with the minimum amount since the cooked lechon sauce thickens as it cools. If too thin by the time the sauce has reached room temperature, stir in more hot water, a tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved.
Note too that the seasoning of liver spread varies. You may need to adjust the amount of soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and sugar by the end of cooking time.
Crispy air fried pork belly, rice and egg (lechonsilog)
Ingredients
- air fried pork belly enough for three (chopped into two-inch cubes)
- scrambled eggs enough for three
- garlic fried rice enough for three
Spicy soy vinegar dipping sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 bird’s eye chili finely sliced
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
Lechon sauce
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 100 grams liver spread
Instructions
Make the spicy soy vinegar dipping sauce
- In a bowl, stir together all the ingredients.
- Pour in one-fourth cup water and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Allow to steep for half an hour before using.
Make the lechon sauce
- In a small sauce pan, heat the oil.
- Over low heat, sweat the ginger and garlic until aromatic and lightly browned.
- Pour in one-fourth cup water.
- Stir in the soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and sugar.
- Stir until simmering.
- Dump in the liver spread.
- Using a wire whisk, mix the liver spread into the hot liquid until no lumps remain.
- Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed.
Assemble your lechonsilog
- Ladle garlic fried rice in the middle of a plate.
- Arrange the air fried pork belly and scrambled eggs on either side of the rice.
- Serve the lechonsilog with your homemade dipping sauces.
