Grilled herbed liempo (pork belly) and potatoes
February 10, 2007
Filed under Asia & beyond, Mighty meaty
Pork, the much maligned meat. In the forums, Ann, who works in Riyadh, says they try to cook Filipino food despite the absence of pork. JMom, in Durham, NC, sympathized because, being “such a porker, I wouldn’t know what to do if I had to live without it!”
Well, my family loves pork, bad press or not. And I think it’s just fitting that I am posting this grilled pork belly (liempo) and potatoes entry just a week before the Chinese Lunar New Year that ushers in the Year of the Pig.
Believe or not, this is a lazy cook’s recipe. My body clock had been going berserk the past week. I’ve been spending too many late nights since the (relaunch) of the forums which was followed by the launch of Pinoy Moms Network. As a result, I often fall asleep after lunch — despite the pounding and the sawing that goes with the construction of some new cabinets in the house.
So, earlier today, lazy me just placed everything in a roasting tin and alternated between watching TV and surfing the net while dinner cooked. Does easy mean bad quality? Of course not! The best thing about knowing how to cook is that you can be as lazy as you like and still be able to convince the whole family that you labored over the meal out of undying love for them. 
You will need strips of pork liempo (belly), ideally about half an inch thick. You will also need 4-6 potatoes, cut into half-inch slices. For seasoning, you need salt and pepper. And for that special touch, you need oregano, thyme and rosemary. Fresh herbs would be best but my potted herbs are too small for picking so I went with my trusty old jars of dried herbs.
Brush the bottom of a roasting tin with olive oil. Arrange the sliced potatoes in a single layer. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the herbs over them.
Place the rack over the potatoes. Arrange the strips of pork liempo about an inch apart so they won’t stick to each other during cooking.
Season the pork with salt and pepper and sprinkle the herbs over them.
Grill in a 180oC oven for 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned.
Chop the pork liempo into serving size pieces and place on a platter. Drain the potatoes on several layers of absorbent kitchen paper. Remember that all the fat from the pork dripped onto the potatoes. While you definitely want all the flavors from the pork, you also want to remove as much of the fat as possible.
So, there. Enjoy your grilled herbed pork liempo and potatoes with hot rice and Kung Hei Fat Choi!
In the mood for more food?
Comments
About Pinoy Cook
- About the author
- Cooking philosophy
- Food photography
- The noche buena section
- Product review policy
- Terms of use
- Privacy policy
- Recipe archive
- Published articles
- Food from all over
- E-mail the author
Readers
Asian cooking
- Fish tempura
- Salmon, mango and coriander maki
- Maskara
- Oriental noodles with peanut sauce
- Cabbage rolls soup
- Candy-making
- My sweet and sour pork
- Char sui (Chinese barbecue sauce)
- Pork and asparagus egg drop soup
- Fish belly with black beans and chili
Asia & beyond
- Creamed cabbage soup
- The pasta connection
- Mandarin Orange Royale
- The perfect barbecue sauce/marinade
- Spanish rice and pesto rice
- Serving idea for store-bought siomai (pork dumplings)
- Refrigerator cake
- Barbequed beef short ribs
- A different kind of chicken casserole
- Tuna belly fillets with garlic and rosemary
Side Notes
-
Order now!
-
In focus
Wow, that certainly looks mighty tasty. *drool*
Back when I was still a non-vegetarian, my Grandmother (my Mom’s mother) used to make this thing she called Canadian bacon with pork belly… It was so unbelievably GOOD.
So when we moved to Canada, I was expecting to eat this all the time… The child in me thought that all Canadians ate that stuff regularly. But I soon realized that it was just a name really, given to that style of bacon. There wasn’t really anything like it around… the exact taste and texture of my Grandma’s recipe. And my Mom couldn’t ever get it to taste the same, no matter how much she experimented.
I just wanted to say that I think you have a great site here. I liked it so much, I put a link to it in my Blog.
I am an American, married to a Filipina, and we are living in Malaysia. My wife was never much of a cook before we got married. Now, she is really interested in cooking, even taking a certificate course sponsored by the embassy in KL.
I showed her this site, and I know she will be visiting it many times from now on.
Thanks! and Happy Cooking!
John
whaaa!!! pork! pork! pork!!! di ka na naawa sa akin con… waaa!!!
anyways!… at least kahit sa pictures lang ok na… bt i will print this one and do it when we will go for our vacation late this year… makakatikim din ako nyan!!! kala nyo ha!!! hehehe!!!
LOL fruityoaty, talk about misnomers. I posted a “napoleones” entry in my other food blog thinking the pasty originated in France and had something to do with Napoleon. Turned out it originated in Naples, Italy.
John, I hope your wife feels encouraged to cook. I was reading your blog, and… gee, what great insights you have there.
hi con!!! just want to let you know na mission accomplished ako! Bossing and I cooked to death last night - beef con tokwa, pininyahang manok at pork and mushroom adobo!
sobrang galing, sobrang sarap! pinakapaborito ko yung beef con tokwa, i was delightfully surprised by the taste. salamat ha…
That’s the spirit, Ann! hahaha My brother in law who used to work in Jeddah, every time he came home for a vacation, the first agenda is to eat pork hahaha
Ate Sienna, naku pinaalala mo… I have a new beef con tokwa recipe. wasn’t able to take pics kasi everyone was hungry. di bale, pag nag repeat performance, paghihintayin ko sila ng konti hehehe
beef con tokwa!!! uy… pa-share naman ng recipe nyan… please… please… please… (kulit nho?!)…
con… actually all the pork recipes that you have here i already put it on a file… para pag uwi namin… we have something that we are going to enjoy about pork not just lechon!:lol: thanks again!!!
it sounds like this is baked instead of grilled which is fine with me because i have a very small grill that i use once a year. too much work to set it up outside. i like charcoal so that means i have to buy charcoal too. no sawsawan connie?
Ann, it’s in Pinoy Cook.
Cameron, no it isn’t baked. I have a convection oven which has different settings for grill (fan-assisted or not) , bake, broil (fan-assisted or not)…
sawsawan in this case will ruin the flavors of the herbs.
hi Miss Sassy, that’s just what I did this weekend. I had baked mine instead of grilling and it turned out sooooo good!::smile: the potato was a lil dry though maybe because I had baked it a lil longer…I paired it with your romaine salad but instead of salted egg I’ve sprinkled toasted bacon…YUMMY! My boyfriend was impressed and asked how did I come up with the dish…I’m like, oh thank you ms connie, at the back of my mind, hehehe… thanks for sharing and making everything so easy and fun!
We love pork! Haha ewan ko ba.. we love veggie yes but we can’t say no to “kababuyan” lalo na yung fatty parts. Drool!
chattygurl, “fun” is the operative word.
iska, kami din ganyan hahahaha. yung beef we can live without but not porky porky hehehe
hello connie,
my husband will surely love this recipe, addict yung sa liempo at inihaw…
btw, can i please know kung anong brand yang oven mo? mukhang convinient e. thanks.
i’ll definitely cook this this coming holiday. hubby’s favorite is grilled liempo.
Happy Valentine, Ms. Connie!
yeay for the year of the PIGS!!
I just love liempo, ang hirap lang hanapin dito. I have to go to a chinese super mart to find it. 
You know, Jade told me she had the best pork chop ever while we were in the Philippines. 
(like my pork chop is not??!!! hehe!). Sabi ko sa kanya, it’s in the fats, baby, it’s in the fats!! It makes all the difference, di ba?
lyn, it’s a stainless steel convection oven by Ariston.
Happy Valentine too, phynkee.
JMom, agree ako dyan. It’s in the fat. Pork chops are dry without the fat.:razz:
Hello again ms connie,
only 2 words to describe this recipe: “super sarap”!!!
i made it over the weekend, and tomorrow i will make it again and this time with the potatoes as well!!
although, medyo ma-cholesterol, pero its hard to resist, even my dad he keeps on asking if it’s luto na while it’s still in the oven, sa amoy pa lang, nakaka-gutom na!
thank u again
I tried this today,easy to cook and delicious
Hi Connie,Just want to tell you that since I found out your site I learned a lot of recipes from you.I am very thankful
Coz’ My husband and my son always tells me before the way I cook for them paulit-ulit na lang daw.Then when i found your
website,They always ask me where did i learn how to cook whatever i prepare for them.My son ate all the potatoes for this recipe,He does not like too much pork belly.
Hi Connie!
Tried this recipe last Saturday and it was wonderful. Downside lang was too much fat on the liempo and the skin was thick (I noticed it after cooking) but overall, this is a wonderful recipe. I will try this with chicken.
Thanks for this recipe! God bless!
hi connie… hope you could help me with my ‘grilling’ problems. i keep on burning the blasted meat! (whether tuna or chicken)…nasasayang tuloy yung marinade ko kc nawawala yung lasa pag nasunog na. nasunog po yung labas but still hilaw sa loob. haay… i use ye old charcoal grill. i tried using a few charcoal lang pero ang tagal maluto. when i tried yung madaming uling, ayun, sunog. i don’t think i’ll perfect my grilling… anyway, can you suggest anything about this? i don’t have an oven. but i am now contemplating on buying an electric grill (yung cheap lang). if i do buy an electric griller, ok lang ba to make inasal dun? or mas ok pa din ang uling? pls help. thanks!
i think the problem is the marinade, not the grill. see, sugar burns fast and the sugar content on the marinade is the reason the meat/fish gets burned before the insides are cooked through. season the meat/fish with salt and pepper only then grill. baste with barbecue sauce while grilling.
in the alternative, place the meat/fish a good distance from the heat. lower them when almost done to char the outside.
hi connie,
i saw in one of your entries yung carmencita’s mixed herbs. i bought it and really had fun using it. even sa fried rice ko nilalagyan ko sya (yung pang pasta ang gamit ko). but i didnt find any for red meat. i only had the type for chicken, pasta and vegies. para sa fish ginamit ko yung para sa chicken. and it tasted wonderfully. i havent used the herbs for red meat pa. for this herb liempo i might substitute them herb mixtures.
hi Im saw very impress the pork liempo and i think it saw masarap