I’ve looked around for recipes and finally decided on one. For the most part, im trying to follow (and try to quantify) Market Manila’s lechon kawali recipe.

What you need:
-2.2lbs. (1 kg.) liempo (pork belly)
I’ve only had ones with a very low meat to fat ratio so I’m trying to make one with a ton more meat.

-1/2 medium onion
-15 peppercorns
-5 garlic cloves
-2 bay leaves

Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 25 minutes

First, boil enough water in a pot to cover the liempo (pork belly), about 2-3 quarts.

Split the belly in two. I split it for easier frying. If you want to leave it whole, by all means leave it.

After the water hits a boil, add the belly for about 1-2 minutes just to clean it. Pour out the water and rise the pot and pork well.

Add the onion, peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves.

Bring to a boil then reduce to heat to about 60% or enough to keep the water at a simmer. I kept adding water to keep the level slightly above the meat. This smells amazing while it cooks!

We’re supposed to let it dry, and I also do not want to try to do that in the oven. I have noticed a lot of lechon kawali I’ved had has the meat part dried out. Maybe it’s because over drying before frying, or because it was over fried… But I’m going to just follow the recipe and find out .

I lightly wrapped it in paper towel and put it in the fridge overnight. This will get deep fried tomorrow. Check back soon for the finished lechon kawali.

Made from just rice and water, the neutral banh trang (rice paper) could be easily used in a variety of ways. At one Vietnamese market, I found no less than five brands of banh trang (rice paper) with multi-lingual packaging: Vietnamese, Chinese, English, and French.

Banh trang gets around. Cambodians have a similar roll also using the same rice paper called nime chow–made without meat and dipped in a vinegar based sauce instead of hoisin. The Chinese have a version with duck and cucumber with a hoisin based dipping sauce. Japanese restaurants are also commonly using regular and dyed versions of rice paper for rolls too.

For the meat you can really use any cut of pork you wish, but leaner works better. The shrimp can also be any size but a medium one helps make rolling easier.

At the bottom of this post you’ll find a Vietnamese Nuoc Cham / Spring Roll Sauce recipe too.

This recipe makes about 10 Spring Rolls.

What you need:
-1/2 lb. shrimp (36/40 size) (453g)
-1/2 lb. pork leg (453g)

-1 head red or green leaf lettuce
-a few sprigs of mint
-chives

-banh trang (rice paper / Spring Roll wrapper)
-bun (rice vermicelli, the starchless variety)

-1 1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon sugar

Nuoc cham recipe (Vietnamese dipping sauce recipe, Spring Roll sauce)
-1 tablespoon Hoisin Sauce
-2 tablespoons water

Prep time: 25-40 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Assembly time: 10-20 minutes

If your shrimp is frozen, thaw it in a bowl of water until it is defrosted so you can cut into them.

Split and devein the shrimp. It helps to have a sharp knife
and a steady hand. I had to pull up a chair to get the hang of this. I also found it helpful to have a bowl of water to dip the nasties into.

Cook the pork: fill a small pot with water about 1.5 inches above the pork, add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Bring to a boil on high heat then lower to 60% for about 30 minutes. It is done when it floats or when it is no longer pink in the middle.

Cook the shrimp: fill a small pot with about 2 inches of water (just enough to cover the shrimp). Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp. Boil for about 1.5-2.5 minutes on 70% heat until the shrimp is no longer translucent in the middle. It will be quick so don’t go anywhere!

Remove the shells and tails and clean off any remaining shrimp intestine. Split the shrimp in half along the body. Try to picture how you want to layer the pork inside the roll so you know how to cut it. Slice as thinly as porkly possible so rolling will be easier.

Tortuna brand bun (rice vermicelli), and Flying Horse brand banh trang (Spring Roll wrapper, rice paper).

Get 1 gallon of water boiling. Add 1/3 of the rice vermicelli package and boil for 8 minutes (following the instructions on the packet).

Drain and cool the noodles under cold running water to stop it from cooking.

Wash and dry your veggies! I used an OXO Salad Spinner.

Add some warm water to a plate to dip the banh trang (rice paper).

Dip only before making each roll. It took me about 5-10 seconds of soak. Make sure to remove it before it gets to the desired softness so it’s easier to handle.

Rolling technique is entirely up to you. Do whatever looks good or makes you happy. Put less than what you think you need so the rolls aren’t exploding. Generally it will look better to show lettuce instead of noodles on the bottom. A tighter roll will look nicer and showcasing the meat on top makes it more appealing. Here’s what I did:

Add some lettuce near the bottom and leave about 1″ to 1.5″ space on the sides. Layer with some mint and some chives.

Add shrimp near the middle, color side down.

Add pork on top of the shrimp and some bun (rice noodle) on top of the vegetables. Make sure the rice noodle is spread evenly across.

Fold the sides in so its snug and add some more chives. Then fold the bottom up to cover the rice noodles. You want to keep the roll tight, so lightly squeeze it together as you roll. Once you reach the meat, ease up on the tightness so it doesn’t tear.

Nuoc cham recipe (Vietnamese dipping sauce recipe):
Add 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce and 2 tablespoons water to a small pan and bring to a boil. Pour into a bowl and cool. Add chopped nuts and some hot sauce. I used Koon Chun hoisin sauce, and Sambal Oelek chili paste (the one without garlic!).

Serve!

What you need:
-2.2 lbs. (1 kg) of country style pork ribs
-6 chicken eggs

-1/2 (6 oz.) can coconut soda
-1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
-1.5 tablespoons fish sauce
-2 teaspoons salt
-4 tablespoons sugar for the nuoc mau (caramel). This is add color and a hint of sweetness. Depending on how dark your sauce gets, you may not need all of it. If you don’t want to make the nuoc mau, you can replace the soy sauce used with dark soy sauce for color.

Approximate prep time: 5 minutes
Approximate cook time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Get about 2-3 quarts of water boiling on high heat. You want enough to cover the pork when it is added.

Cut the pork into about 1″ x 1.5″ (2.5cm x 3.8cm) pieces.

After the pot of water is at a boil, add the pork for about 1-2 minutes to clean it of impurities on high heat. We’re not trying to cook it all the way through here. Then, pour out the water and clean the pork and pot under running water. Use your hands! Then, pour out all the water.

Add to the pot: 1/2 a can coconut soda, 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce, 1.5 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 teaspoons salt.

Then fill up the pot until the water just covers the meat. Return to the stove on high heat. When it hits a boil, lower to about 50% heat and set the timer for 2 hours. Make the Nuoc Mau (caramel) and add to the pot.

Next, boil the eggs.

When they are ready, remove the shells, cool, and poke the eggs all over with a fork. About 8 times on each egg.

When there are about 60 minutes left on the timer, add the eggs. Eventually we want the liquid to reduce to half of the original. So when the timer shows 15 minutes left and you have too much liquid, turn the heat up to concentrate it faster.

Serve with rice.

When I was a kid, I used to mash up the yolk and mix it with the rice, then add some broth. Well…nothing has changed except now I put loads of freshly ground pepper on top =].

A note on the seasoning for this thit kho recipe: you can tinker with the soy sauce, fish sauce, and salt after the liquid has finished reducing, adding more to fit your taste buds.