How to Cook Pork Bagnet

Pork Bagnet is a type Filipino pork dish wherein pork belly (liempo) is boiled until it becomes very tender and then deep fried until the outside turns brown and crispy. This is almost the same as lechon kawali, except that traditional bagnet recipe do not use any seasoning at all. Instead, it utilizes pork fat in order to add flavor to the dish and this is done during the boiling process wherein pork fat or bacon grease is added in boiling water.

I recommend using a single slab of pork belly with a weight of around 2 to 3 lbs. Using a whole slab of pork guarantees the inner part to remain tender and juicy while the outside is being browned and made crispy when frying it. This advice might be familiar to you if you were able to read my recipe post on Super Crispy Lechon Kawali.

Authentic bagnet is fried for a short amount of time. It gets brown and crispy in around 5 minutes. However, it involves applying very high amount heat on the oil. I did not go on the same route because I am concerned about the quality of the final product. Since I am using canola oil, I played safe at 350F because its smoke point is at 400F. This means that canola oil can get burnt if I go beyond 400F, so I just opted for a lower temperature and increased the frying time. The result is just the same anyway – a very tender pork belly in the inside while the outside is brown and crispy.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. pork belly
• ½ cup pork fat or bacon grease
• 2 quarts water
• 1 ½ quarts cooking oil

Instructions

1. Pour water in a deep cooking pot. Let boil.
2. Add pork fat or bacon grease and then put the pork belly into the pot. Cover and boil in medium heat for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until the pork belly becomes very tender.
3. Remove the pork belly from the cooking pot. Let the temperature cool down to a point wherein you can handle it with your hands. Tap the pork dry with a piece of paper towel. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a deep fryer or a deep cooking pot (until it reaches around 350F).
5. Deep-fry the boiled pork belly for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the pot or deep fryer. Let excess oil drip.
7. Cut into serving pieces. Serve with spicy vinegar or you can also use this as an ingredient to other dishes such as pinakbet and sinigang na may bagnet.
8. Serve. Share and enjoy!