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I want to cook Lechon Kawali (filipino food) for my officemate for lunch but I'm worried the pork skin won't be crispy when we eat it. I'm going to cook it in the morning. Any ideas how I can make the pork stay crispy in time for lunch?
It's going to be eaten around 3 hrs after cooking. I'm going to put it in a container to bring it to the office.
Being Filipino, I totally applaud you for such an excellent choice of an entree. The enemy of all fried food is moisture. Think of...potato chips. Immediately after you fry, make sure you let the food cool at room temperature before packaging. I would store the lechon in a non air-tight container, like a KFC bucket/box with parchment paper. Paper bags are good options as well. After the food has substantially cooled, feel free to refrigerate. Don't put your lechon in a sealed tupperware container while hot, as condensation from water evaporating from the meat while it is hot will often form and make your food soggy. Bring on the Mang Tomas and have at it.
In Chinese roast pork, Cantonese style, kosher salt is placed on the pork skin before roasting to absorb the moisture. (I have also used aquarium salt). My recipe uses vinegar instead of a lemon before the salt goes on. Once the skin has crackled I then remove the salt before serving but you could just leave it on, or if you're not using this method, then place it on the skin and remove it once you want to eat it.
I recently read a blog entry where the author mentioned the pork belly was still crispy the day after.
Secret of crispyness:
Scully thought he knew all there was to know about getting a good crackling on his pork belly until , in 2009, at a food show in Sydney, he learnt the real secret. It was passed on to him by a woman in her late 70s. Scully didn’t get her name but he did get her secret of rubbing half a lemon all over the pork skin, squeezing out the juice as you go, before sprinkling the salt over. It paves the way to crackled glory.
