Bagnet ng Ilocos

Ilocano Bagnet, or simply known as Bagnet, is a boiled, air-dried, then deep-fried slabs of pork belly (liempo). It is a famous native food in the province of Ilocos, Philippines. It is similar to Lechon Kawali of the Tagalogs but the difference, I guess, is the process of preparation, cooking, and of course, the place of origin. It is said that Bagnet has its origins in the town of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur where the “Bagnet Festival” is annually held and celebrated. I do not know the exact origin of the said dish but I think it is a handed-down tradition of deep-frying the meat as means of food preservation, in order to lengthen the meat’s shelf-life. Bagnet is locally known as Chicharon. You can find and buy Bagnet in any towns of Ilocos.

Bagnet preparation is a long process. Some rub and season the meat first with salt and the pork’s skin is pricked with fork or a bundle of sticks for it to pop during deep-frying, while some put the meat directly into a boiling water seasoned with salt. In Ilocos, since they are making large batches of Bagnet, they place the meat in a large pot called Sinublan to boil. After boiling, the meat is air-dried for few hours before deep-frying. After air-drying the meat, it is now submerged in a hot boiling oil for approximately 20 minutes, or until the pork’s skin pops. The process of deep-frying is repeated twice or thrice until the pork’s skin pops further. The secret to Bagnet is its crispy and crunchy skin, moist and tender meat.

Bagnet can be eaten as it is, usually with rice, and partnered with condiments like Bagoong (shrimp paste), Bagoong-Isda (fermented fish), Sarsa (a sweet and tangy Filipino pork liver sauce), and Toyo-Kalamansi-Sili (soy sauce with calamansi and chili pepper). You can also incorporate Bagnet into several Filipino pork dishes, such as Sinigang (a sour and savory Filipino soup), Kare-Kare (a Filipino stew with thick peanut sauce), Pinakbet (a Filipino vegetable stew in shrimp paste or fermented fish), Lechon Paksiw (a Filipino pork stew in pork liver sauce), and many other Filipino dishes.

Here’s the Recipe:

Ingredients

2 to 2 1/2 lbs. whole pork belly
1 medium red onion
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorn
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
6 cloves crushed garlic
4 to 6 cups water
3 cups cooking oil

Instructions

Arrange the pork belly in a wide and deep cooking pot. Pour-in the water. Make sure that the pork belly is fully submerged in water. Let boil.
Once the water starts to boil, add the garlic, onion, 1 tablespoon salt, and whole black peppercorn. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
Remove the boiled pork belly from the cooking pot and place in a plate. Let it cool to room temperature.
Rub the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of salt all over the boiled pork belly. Let is stay for 10 to 20 minutes.
Heat the cooking oil in a deep cooking pot. When the oil gets hot, gently put-in the pork belly and deep-fry in medium heat until the pork belly turns golden brown and the texture gets crispy. The oil will splatter during this process, so be careful. Make sure that you do not cover the cooking pot completely while deep frying. You can put a splatter guard on top of the cooking pot to control the oil.
Once the pork belly is golden brown and crispy, remove it from the cooking pot and arrange in a plate lined with paper towel. Turn the stove off and let the pork belly cool down to room temperature.
When the pork belly cools down, heat-up the oil on more time. Deep fry the same pork belly for the second time in medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes or until it gets extra crispy.
Remove from the cooking pot and place in a plate lined with paper towel. Let the towel absorb the excess oil.
Slice the pork bagnet into serving pieces and serve with bagoong monamon (also known as bugguong munamon) or even guinamos or bagoong Balayan. Note: you can squeeze lemon or calamansi on the bagoong to make it taste better.
Share and enjoy!