Crispy Pata
A whole pork leg, boiled until tender then deep-fried until the skin blisters into crackling. Served with a soy-vinegar dipping sauce.
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 2 h
- total
- 2 h 20 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- medium
Crispy pata takes a whole pork leg through two stages: a long simmer to make the meat fall-apart tender, then a hot oil bath to blister the skin into real crackling.
The soy-vinegar dip on the side is simple, but it's doing real work, cutting through all that richness bite after bite.
Part of our 20 best Filipino recipes list.
method
Place the pork leg in a large pot with enough water to cover, along with the bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, onion and salt.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the meat is tender but still holding its shape.
Remove the pork leg and let it cool and dry completely, ideally uncovered in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. A dry surface is essential for good crackling.
Heat the oil in a large, deep pot to about 180°C (350°F). Carefully lower in the pork leg, it will spatter, and fry for 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until the skin blisters and turns deep golden all over.
Drain well and rest for 5 minutes before chopping into serving pieces.
Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic and chili for the dipping sauce.
Serve the crispy pata hot with the dipping sauce and rice.
chef's tips
- Drying the boiled pork leg thoroughly before frying is the one step that makes or breaks the crackling; skip it and the skin blisters unevenly or stays chewy.
- Frying a whole leg sends up hot oil spatter, so lower it in slowly and stand back, and use a pot with high sides.
- The soy-vinegar dip, simple as it is, is what cuts through all that richness, so don't skip it in favor of eating the pata plain.
- Boiling the leg first, rather than deep-frying raw pork from the start, is what gets the meat fully tender before the skin ever hits hot oil.