Pinoys love a good pork belly. We like it with crackling skin, grilled, roasted, barbecued–there are so many ways to enjoy liempo! But in our house, we always go back to this recipe: Baked Liempo with lots of garlic, herbs, and sweet whiskey!
This dish is so simple and very easy to make. Prepping the ingredients won’t even take you five minutes! Then, simply pop it in the oven, set the timer, and practically forget about it. You can do chores, or take a nice long shower, or take care of the baby, watch Netflix.
I used to buy liempo or pork belly in Shopwise or Rustan’s Supermarket because they usually have the buy 1kg take 500g sale. But recently, I’ve made the conscious effort to consume free-range and organic products so I go to Gabrielle’s (will write a separate blog about this meat shop!). For this recipe, I used 3 slabs, cut in half.
You can add as much garlic as you want. I want mine just crushed, not chopped. You can choose your own herbs, too. I usually put thyme, oregano, or rosemary, but this time I used dill just coz my dill plant is now sprouting.
The thing that takes this dish to another level is whiskey. Specifically, honey-flavored whiskey. You can find one in any liquor shop, but I got mine at S&R. Bourbon works well, too–there’s honey-flavored Jim Beam if you want to try that.
Simple, fast, juicy, and delicious. Truly–and I say this as as a new mom–this is the perfect dish for busy or lazy days.
Baked Liempo (Pork Belly)
Ingredients
- 500g pork belly slices (or 3 strips, cut in half to make 6 pieces)
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed
- sprigs of dill
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey
- salt + pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Clean your pork belly slices and pat dry. Rub with salt and pepper.
- Pour Worcestershire sauce, and then drizzle with olive oil.
- Pour the whiskey.
- Put in the garlic and herbs.
- Bake for 40 minutes, turn, and bake for another 20. Your pork should have a nice brown color, caramelized, and super tender! (I saved the oil drippings–you should, too!)
Downtown Abi 