Lechon Cebu
A whole roast pig stuffed with lemongrass, garlic and spices, roasted over charcoal until the skin turns deep amber and shatters. The home version uses a rolled pork belly.
- prep
- 45 min
- cook
- 3 h
- total
- 3 h 45 min
- serves
- 8
- level
- hard
Cebu's lechon is considered the best in the Philippines by a wide national consensus: a whole pig stuffed with lemongrass, garlic and spices, then turned slowly over charcoal for hours until the skin turns to shattering crackling.
This home version rolls a pork belly around the same stuffing, which gets you most of the way there without a spit or a whole pig.
Part of our 20 best Filipino recipes list.
method
Lay the pork belly skin-side down. Score the meat side lightly.
Mix the lemongrass, garlic, onion, bay, peppercorns, star anise, soy sauce, vinegar and 2 tbsp salt. Spread this stuffing evenly over the meat side.
Roll the belly tightly lengthwise, with the skin on the outside, and tie securely with kitchen string at intervals.
Rub the skin all over with salt, and let it sit uncovered in the fridge overnight, or at least 4 hours, to dry out.
Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Place the rolled pork on a rack in a roasting pan, and roast for about 2.5 to 3 hours, until the center is tender.
Raise the oven to 230°C (450°F), or use a blowtorch or broiler, and roast for a final 20 to 25 minutes, until the skin blisters and turns deep golden and crackling.
Rest for 15 minutes, then slice into rounds, keeping the crackling intact on each piece.
Serve with a simple vinegar and soy dipping sauce.
chef's tips
- A whole roast pig is the real Cebu lechon, famous for a stuffing-forward flavor that needs no sauce, slow-roasted over charcoal for hours by a dedicated turner.
- This rolled belly version gets you the same stuffed, crackling-skinned effect at home, without the pit and the pig.
- Drying the skin overnight uncovered in the fridge is the real secret to crackling that shatters rather than chews.
- Cebu lechon is often eaten plain, without dipping sauce, because the stuffing already carries enough flavor through the whole roll.