Balamban Liempo

The belly is important for humans especially when it comes to food. We eat to cure the horrible disease called hunger and satisfy our bellies. Some also embrace hunger to achieve Derek Ramsey's secret weapon, the abs. Either the former or the latter, it is all connected with the belly.

What is also important is the pork belly. This part of the hog is a very flexible part for a dish. You can fry it, grill it and boil it. When it comes to the pork belly, Filipinos tend to grill the loveable thing. We call it, Liempo. A liempo is a grilled pork belly that is marinated for a couple of hours (sometimes for days) and is grilled to achieve a classic dish.

I have tasted a lot of different variations of the liempo and only one is equivalent to a champion. The liempo that I am talking about is the Balamban Liempo.

Liempo

Since my family is from Balamban, I have tasted this unique liempo a couple of years back. I bet my farm, this is the best liempo ever made. The flavors of this liempo resembles to Manny Pacquiao's left hook, very strong and always ready to knock you out. Not only that, the secret lies between the meat. The meat is filled perfectly with herbs and spices which makes the unity of its flavors as fierce as China and the tenderness of the meat is as lovely as the waves in Hawaii.

This liempo is one of the great dishes to ever come to Cebu City. The uniqueness of the dish is incomparable with any liempo in town. The meat's skin is also very crispy while the meat is not overcooked. Taste the flavor, not the charcoal.

Chili Chicken Wings

Balamban Liempo also offers a lot of other dishes in the menu. One of which is the intense, Chili Chicken Wings. It is fried chicken wings blasted with a chili sauce which will surely make you sweat. For only 75Php per serving, prepare yourself. Especially your hanky.

As what people say, he who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else. This liempo is a very good excuse to hit on the diet brakes. It does not hurt to have good food once in a while and you are not going to hell for eating a liempo because their kitchen is our shrine, their cook; our priest, their tables; our altar, our bellies; our gods.

Yes, I do want to have Derek Ramsey's abs but I just like having some softness. If I lose that, then Cristine Reyes might leave me.

Balamban Liempo is located in Kamuning St., Capitol (at the back of Coco Mall) and at Cor. Tres Borces St. & S. Cabahug St. - for more information on their branches, visit their website at www.balambanliempo.multiply.com