Bagnet from Vigan

Location: Vigan

My brother was nice enough to buy a couple of orders of bagnet while on a field trip in Vigan (I know, 3-day high school field trip in Vigan! Envy.). Bagnet is said to be the Ilocano version of lechon kawali (crispy pork belly). It is basically like lechon kawali but it's extra crispy, almost like chicharon (pork rind).

It's a little hard to bite into but  the meat/fat is very tender and flavorful. I heard the bagnet is fried longer (1-hour at low fire) and is even deep-fried for a second time. What my mom did is to just chop it all up (they come in big slabs of pork!) and mix it with tofu in seasoned soy sauce. Yummy. I'm not a fan of pork but I like bagnet.