Juicy and Tasty Inihaw na Liempo

Once again, I’m missing the everyday Filipino affairs of doing good honest work and visiting the local carinderia, eateries, or those hole in the wall places that everyone seems to know about and love to eat everyday Filipino dishes. I miss entering the homey and quaintly decorated carinderias and figure out which platter of a Filipino dish they made that day I would have for my meal.

When it was safe to venture outside, there was a certain thrill of curiosity to seeing the different dishes that are displayed out on local eateries. My favorites were the ones where the owners put present their cooked meals in a lidded catering platter neatly lined on the counter. I always make sure to lift every lid to see what’s in store inside every platter.

One of the regular Filipino dishes served in such places is the delicious inihaw na liempo. Any local carinderia or eatery that’s worth visiting and getting your meal must have a juicy and tasty inihaw na liempo that has everyone coming back for more. 

You either have to order their inihaw na liempo that’s on the menu to figure out if it’s worth coming back to or you just follow the mouth-watering scent of the liempo being grilled outside the eatery, take your place inside, and enjoy the food. I discovered the best inihaw na liempo in every place that I’ve visited in the Philippines through this method but the first method brings great results as well.

What is inihaw na liempo? Liempo is simply a thinner vertical cut of a pork belly cut that’s used in lechon kawali recipes. Liempo cut is actually a versatile cut of pork that cooks can creatively use. I think inihaw na liempo is the most common and the favorite recipe that Pinoys use for their liempo cut.

Another recipe that I know of that uses the liempo cut in a similar way as inihaw na liempo recipes is the Pinaglagtob Na Liempo Recipe.

With the inihaw na liempo recipe, of course, you need to have a liempo cut ready, marinate that in a specially made mixture or sauce overnight, then grill it over hot coal while basting it with your specially made mixture or sauce. This special mixture or sauce is typically made up of soy sauce, calamansi juice, garlic, and seasonings like black pepper. Of course, that’s just the basics and every cook has their special mixture or sauce recipe that they to marinate their liempo with.

Owners of eateries like carinderias and restaurants, of course, have their own recipe for their inihaw na liempo and they all keep it a well-guarded secret. I miss seeing the cooks of carinderias basting their cooking liempo on the grill with their bowl of special mixture or sauce. I always like taking a quick sneaky peek inside to see if I could recognize any ingredients they used. I just make sure not to get noticed by the cook.

There are seasonings and pre-made mixtures and sauce out there on the market that you can buy to quickly marinade your liempo in and grill it on the same day. But, personally, I think that the best inihaw na liempo recipe needs to have that homemade special mixture or sauce that the liempo marinates in overnight and grill the next day.

So because I missed the different inihaw na liempo flavors that I can get at local carinderias, I decided to cook this recipe at home. I got this recipe from my parents which I tweaked a little to elevate the flavors that are already there. It’s all about the mixture in this inihaw na liempo recipe. 

I prefer mixtures over sauces for my inihaw na liempo because I sometimes find sauces for liempo to be too heavy for the dish. But, if you’re a person who prefers a delicious sauce for your inihaw na liempo, you can add a thickening ingredient of your choosing in this mixture to create a sauce and it will work just as well. I suggest banana ketchup. You can go crazy with this but make sure to get the flavors balanced.

With the inihaw na liempo recipe or with any recipes that require marinating before the actual cooking process, it’s important to remember that patience is the key. I’m sharing this special mixture of mine with your guys to use for your inihaw na liempo but the flavors won’t be the same if you haven’t marinated it at least overnight.

The ingredients that I used in this inihaw na liempo recipe creates a perfectly balanced mixture flavor-wise, in my opinion. You have everything you need in there, from sweet to sour, to salty, and even a touch of hotness.

All of the ingredients I used are enumerated down below along with how you need to prep them. It’s all about prep-time and patience with this recipe but the results are worth it.

The cooking process with inihaw na liempo is basically just grilling the marinated liempo and basting it on both sides. Make sure not to overcook it though as we need it to be tender and juicy on the inside.

All the cooking instructions for this recipe are also available down. Once you’ve accomplished cooking this juicy and tasty inihaw na liempo recipe, all that’s left to do is serve it with white rice and a dipping sauce of your choosing. You can be as elaborate or as simple with making your dipping sauce. You can also cut your liempo into smaller bits or serve it as it is.

As always, we’ve created a fun video for you if you want to make this recipe along with us or if you could use some visual instructions. Enjoy!

Youtube Video