Sometimes you have to throw everything you know about health out the window and just go whole hog. That’s especially true when you’re researching the deep-fried pork dishes lechon kawali and crispy pata.
Although they draw from different parts of the pig, these two Filipino favorites are essentially the same. They take a hunk of seasoned pork (with the skin intact), boil it in water until it’s tender and then plunge it into a vat of hot oil. What emerges is a crunchy, chewy, fatty, multilayered porky delight that grows even more delicious when dipped in a tangy liver sauce (more on that later) but especially when splashed through a sharp, thin vinegar and garlic sauce.
While there seems to be a consensus that the proper meat for lechon kawali is a nice fatty slice of pork belly, we can’t find much agreement on the right cut for crispy pata. Some say it requires a pork leg, some recommend the trotter, others prescribe the use of the hock and still others call for pig knuckles — in any case it comes from the knee down and I hope I haven’t ruined everybody’s appetite.
Despite the picture above, both dishes are usually chopped up into chunks before they hit the table, making for easy dipping. The pata should sport an ultra-crispy outer layer with fall-off-the-bone meat inside, paired with the vinegar, soy and garlic sauce.
The lechon traditionally comes with a little side cup of liver sauce, so named because it is made by cooking, chopping, blending, squeezing, straining and seasoning bits of pork liver until they make a gravy-ish sweet and sour sauce. It’s an interesting concoction, but I still much prefer the astringent vinegar dip.
You can find nice versions of both specialties at Pampanga’s Cuisine, 6407 N. Caldwell Ave., 773-763-1781; Cebu, 7329 Lemont Rd., Downers Grove, 630-663-8803; The Fish Pond, 4416 N. Clark St., 773-271-1119 and across the street at Little Quiapo, 4423 N. Clark St., 773-271-5441. We especially liked the meaty pata at The Fish Pond and the crunchy bits of lechon at Cebu.
Pampanga proprietress Reyna Enriquez Nuqui claims that “crispy pata is better for people on a diet” because it contains less fat than the pork belly, but neither dish would be likely to get approval from Weight Watchers. Expect to pay $7.95 to $15 for an order of crispy pata and $6.95 to $10 for the lechon.
And then plan to take a nice long walk home to work off a little of that delectable deep fried fat.