Crispy Pata (Roasted)

Crispy pata is one of the favorite dishes in the Philippines which usually is served in special occasions, it is similar to a lamb leg roast or Thanksgiving turkey in the Western World, It’s a simple recipe of deep-fried pork leg or “pata” in Tagalog served vinegar and soy sauce dip.  It’s a very unhealthy dish as the pork legs that already consist of high fat content is deep fried until skin becomes really crisp resembling pork crackling in texture, its a dish that the heart foundation definitely would not tick, but for my version I will not deep fry it for two main reasons, 1. To give the dish a lower less cholesterol level compared to the fried counterpart and 2. Its cheaper as you are not using a lot of oil for deep frying.  Now what will I do is bake it in an oven to achive not the same results as the fried one but trust me it will be near.

So today I will be making 3 legs as we have a christmas party to attend to in one of of local community organization and the picture above is our share on the pot luck, the time consumed in preparing this dish is nearly 3 hours for cooking and 24 hours to marinate and thats the key so that you have a very tasty meat that is soft and juicy on the inside but crisp on the outside.  If you have the same patience as mine then go ahead and follow this recipe.

Crispy Pata (Roasted)

★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Raymund
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hours 45 mins
• Total Time: 3 hours
• Yield: 6-8 1x
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Filipino

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Ingredients

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Crispy Pata

• 3 large pork leg, get the fatty one and dont worry that will melt away when we bake it.
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1.5 litres Sprite
• 2 tbsp baking soda
• 1 whole garlic, minced
• 1 whole onion, quartered
• 2 tbsp ground black pepper
• 4 tbsp rock salt
• 6 pcs laurel leaves
• oil

Vinegar Dip

• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tbps brown sugar
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 green chillies, chopped

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Instructions

Crispy Pata

1. Combine soy sauce, fish sauce, sprite, garlic, baking soda, salt in a deep pot.
2. Now soak the pork leg into the mixture, pierce the skin multiple time with knife to let the marinade seep through.
3. Marinate for at least 24 hours turing to the other side after 12 hrs.
4. Now using the same pot with eveything on it (marinade and pork), place in a stove top add the onions and laurel leaves and bring to a boil and cook for 1 hour.
5. Let the meat cool for at least an hour, then place in a fridge for at least 2 hours.
6. Remove from fridge and massage pork leg with lots of salt (specially on the pierced skin) this helps the skin to be crunchy. Once slat is applied pour cooking oil on pork leg and spread evenly on the skin surface.
7. Prepare to heat the oven at 220C.
8. Place legs on roasting rack (with a tray below to catch the drippings) then fan bake for 1 hour.
9. Reduce heat to 180 then continue to fan bake for 45 more minutes.

Vinegar Dip

1. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl

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