Inihaw na Liempo (Grilled Pork Belly)

This Pork Inihaw na Liempo recipe (or Filipino Grilled Pork Belly ) is smoky, juicy, and bursting with bold Filipino flavors. The star of any outdoor party. Fresh pork belly marinated in a savory seasoned soy sauce, aromatics, calamansi, soda, and ketchup mix. Grilled over charcoal and served with a side of spicy spiced vinegar, toyomansi, or loads and loads of rice! This easy liempo recipe is sure to bring smiles at any gathering.

What Is Pork Belly ?

Pork belly is a boneless, fatty cut of meat that comes from the underside—or “belly”—of a pig. It’s the same part of the pig used to make bacon, but unlike bacon, pork belly is typically sold uncured and unsmoked.

Key Characteristics:

• High fat content: It has alternating layers of meat and fat, which gives it a rich, tender texture when cooked properly.
• Flavorful: The fat renders during cooking, adding a deep, savory flavor.
• Versatile: Can be braised, roasted, grilled, or fried.

Common Uses:

• Asian cuisine: Widely used in dishes like Korean samgyeopsal, Chinese red-braised pork, and Filipino lechon kawali.
• Western cuisine: Often slow-roasted or sous-vide for crispy skin and tender meat.
• Street food: Sometimes deep-fried or grilled and served with sauces or condiments.

Inihaw na Liempo Ingredients List:

• Pork Belly – Our main choice of meat for this recipe.
• Soy sauce – gives the dish it’s strong saltiness and umami flavor.
• Banana ketchup – adds color and savory-sweetness.
• Oyster sauce – has savory, sweet, and umami characteristics.
• Garlic and Calamansi juice – helps remove any foul smells the pork may have.
• Sugar – sweetness to add a nice balance from the saltiness and acidity.
• Sprite (or any lemon soda) – tenderizes the meat, keeps it juicy when cooked, and well as help the pork belly marinade really seep through the meat.
• Black pepper – for flavor.
• Red chilies – optional, gives the dish a subtle spice.

Basting Sauce

• Banana ketchup – adds a nice reddish tint as well as savory taste.
• Soy sauce – for umami and color.
• Sugar – adds a bit of sweetness and helps with the caramelization.
• Cooking oil – to help keep the meat tender.

Inihaw na Liempo ( Pork Liempo Recipe )

Ingredients

Marinade for inihaw na liempo :

• 1 kilo pork belly
• 1 whole bulb of garlic (minced)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup banana ketchup
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/3 cup calamansi juice
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 cup Sprite (or any lemon soda)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Red chilies (optional)

For the basting sauce :

• 1/4 cup banana ketchup
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cooking oil

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, banana ketchup, calamansi juice, minced garlic, ground black pepper, red chilies, brown sugar and lemon soda. Mix until well combined.

2. Next, add the pork belly slices in the marinade. Mix and coat them with the marinade. Allow them to marinate for at least 4 hours or better if overnight, refrigerated.

3. For the basting sauce, combine the banana ketchup, soy sauce, sugar (optional) and cooking oil. Mix until well combined.

4. Prepare the charcoal and the grill. Arrange the marinated pork in the grill and let them cook until the bottom part facing the charcoal dries up. Then, flip each piece and brush them with the basting sauce.

5. Flip them again and brush the other side with the basting sauce. Continue flipping and basting until both sides are cooked and smokey.

6. Transfer the inihaw pork belly to a serving dish. Rest them first for around 5 minutes before cutting into serving pieces. Make papak or pulutan out of it, or serve it with hot steaming rice and special suka! Enjoy!

Try our other ihaw ihaw recipes :

Questions :

• Inihaw na liempo calories per 100g ?

This pork belly bbq recipe has around more or less 800 calories.

• Add more interest into this fried liempo marinade recipe
• While this Inihaw na liempo marinade with sprite is delicious there are also so many ways to add contrast to the recipe. Other additional pork belly barbecue recipes include :
  • Instead of liempo marinade with sprite. Tenderize and make the pork feel more summery by using pineapple juice instead for ” Inihaw na liempo with Pineapple Juice “.
  • Liempo Recipe with Ketchup – instead of banana ketchup you can use regular ketchup or add in 2 – 3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup. This adds a strong savory richness.
  • Liempo Recipe Oyster Sauce ( or ” Liempo with Oyster Sauce ” ) – add 2 – 3 tablespoons into the sprite marinade. Oyster sauce tenderizes the meat further as well as provide a deeper savory taste, with a subtle sweetness.
  • Or make it simple by making ” Inihaw na Liempo Salt and Pepper “.

• Can you use other cuts or meats ?
  • Whle the inihaw na liempo sprite uses the pork belly, other parts / cuts to consider using are the pork shoulder, tenderloin, ribs, or pork chop. The Best inihaw na liempo meat is pork that has a good amount of fat and lean meat ratio. The fats help shiled the meat from getting burnt by the grill, it also helps keep it tender and juicy.
  • Another meat options to replace this griddled pork belly is beef. To make the Filipino Beef Inihaw Recipe – You can use beef belly, beef short plate, beef short ribs, beef chuck, and even beef brisket. The biggest difference would be that it will have a different texture, a longer cooking time, and since the fat-to-meat ratio of the beef is quite different-the meat will also behave differently.

• Other ways of cooking
  • Liempo recipe oven – Another way inihaw na baboy with sprite is to bake this in a preheated oven at 370°F or 188°C for 20 minutes. Basting it with the sauce very 10 minutes. Increasing the temperature to 430°F or 221°C and basting for 20 more minutes or until it looks charred.
  • Inihaw na Liempo sa Kawali – You can also cook this pork belly sprite by cooking these in a pan at medium heat. Without any oil, add in the liempo strips, basting and flipping every 5 to 10 minutes. Repeat until you have a nice char.
  • Inihaw na Liempo Air Fryer – Cook this grilled pork belly recipe using an air fryer. Air-fry at 180°C for 20 to 30 minutes or until charred. Baste and flip every 10 minutes.
• Inihaw na Liempo Partner
  • Serve the inihaw na liempo with pipino. To help cut through the oiliness and charred taste, you can serve this pork belly pulutan with a side of Cucumber Salad.
  • For a typical yet Yummy inihaw na liempo sauce ( or ” Sawsawan ng inihaw na liempo” ) – Mix soy sauce, white vinegar, calamansi or lemon juice, red chillies, onions, garlic, a bit of salt and pepper, optional chopped tomatoes, and a bit of water.
  • Sinigang na Inihaw na Liempo – is a more modern take on the traditional Filipino sour soup. For this, in a pot, add in the inihaw na pork chop, pour in the water, and cook your usual sinigang with vegetables. Just omit the steps where you need to cook / add the meat. This gives your typical sinigang a subtly smokey and spicy flavor.

Why Filipinos love this dish ?

With many of us in the family are working, we highly ensure that vacations are fun, especially the food. Every year during our lola and lolo’s joint birthday celebration, all of in the family automatically files for vacation leave like its a holiday. It is their request for us to always have their birthday either on the  beach or at a resort. For this year, we celebrated their  birthday at a beach in Batangas.

During vacations and celebrations like these, grilled dishes are a must have. What I love about grilled dishes is that you can grill anything as long as it stands on the grill. It can be pork, beef, chicken, seafood, and even veggies! Me and my brother are the master’s of grilling. I’ve been grilling for a few years now but I really need his help in lighting up rhe charcoal. Inihaw na liempo is our staple when it comes to grilled dishes. Although we also smell smokey and grilled afterwards, the smell was worth it.

Boodle fight is always a part of our celebration. It was really exciting preparing the long banana leaf in a table and arranging all foods for the boodle fight. We put the inihaw na liempo last since people immediately attack this one spotted (coming from someone who eats some while grilling HAHAHA). The boodle fight is the most awaited event in this vacation. During Christmas and New Year, we still do the grilled liempo using the same recipe and method but in barbecue skewers.

What I love about inihaw na liempo is that it is very easy to prepare (except for the grilling part). It lets you enjoy the natural meaty-ness of the pork coated in sweet umami sauce made with the most favorite Pinoy condiments. If you wanna know how to prepare inihaw na liempo for personal or for special occassions, continue reading and simply follow the recipes below.

Making inihaw na liempo is very very easy. The hard part actually is the grilling process (haha). First, marinade liempo. I recommend you to score your liempo first so that the marinade will penetrate them more. In this recipe, I used the Pinoy’s favorite seasonings such as ketchup, garlic, oyster sauce, calamansi juice, aromatics, sugar, and extra sweetness from the lemon soda. Once marinated well, your liempo is ready for grilling.

Before grilling, make sure to prepare the basting sauce. This sauce is almost similar to the marinade — only that it is made fresh and has cooking oil in it to help the liempo cook better on the grill. Light up your charcoal. According to my brother, the technique to do this quick is to use wood charcoal (not the coconut charcoal) and then arrange them lightly. Meaning, do not compress the charcoal pieces and allow some air to pass through. Roll some paper up and then light it while under the charcoal. When lighted, it is much more convenient to use a fan rather than wind it up yourself.

The whole grilling process was a bit messy (and smelly for the grillers) but was totally worth it! Make sure to have some inihaw na liempo on your next beach event! Yum!

Recipe for Inihaw na Liempo ( Tagalog )

Mga Sangkap:

Para sa inihaw na liempo:

• 1 kilo liempo
• 1 buong bawang (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 1/2 tasa ng toyo
• 1/2 tasa ng banana ketchup
• 3 kutsara ng oyster sauce
• 1/3 tasa ng calamansi juice
• 2 kutsara ng asukal
• 1/2 tasa ng Sprite (o kahit anong lemon soda)
• 1 kutsarita ng paminta
• Siling labuyo (optional)

Para sa basting sauce:

• 1/4 tasa ng banana ketchup
• 1 kutsara ng toyo
• 1 kutsarita ng asukal (optional)
• 1 – 2 kutsara ng mantika

Paano Gawin:

1. Sa isang malaking bowl, paghaluin ang toyo, oyster sauce, banana ketchup, kalamansi juice, bawang, paminta, siling labuyo, asukal na pula at lemon soda. Haluin ng mabuti.
2. Ilagay ang mga piraso ng baboy sa marinade. Haluin ito para malagyan lahat. Imarinate ang mga ito ng 4 hours o magdamag sa loob ng ref.
3. Para sa basting sauce, paghaluin ang banana ketchup, toyo, asukal (optional) at mantika. Haluin ng mabuti.
4. Ihanda ang ihawan at ilagay na ang mga liempo. Lutuin ito hanggang medyo matuyo ang parte na nakaharap sa apoy. Baliktarin ang mga ito at ibrush ng basting sauce.
5. Baliktarin ang mga ito ulit at ibrush ang kabilang side ng basting sauce. Ituloy lang ang pagbabaliktad at pagbbrush ng basting sauce hanggang maluto ang mga ito.
6. Ilipat ang mga inihaw na liempo sa serving dish. Hayaan muna ito ng 5 minuto bago hiwain sa serving pieces. Papakin ito o pulutanin, o samahan ng bagong saing na kanin at special suka! Enjoy!