Friday, July 1, 2011

Roll Over, Lechon ! ( It’s got 9 Lives!)


Lechon is a whole roasted pig roasted over charcoal. This is a popular dish during fiestas and other special occasions. Sharing my article for COOK magazine, Feb 2011 …

It’s that time after all the Lechon feasting has been exhausted and you are faced with a good problem– what to do with left over Lechon?
You lucky people..you !.. with leftover Lechon ?! I bet you will want to turn it over into other ways of eating it. Here are some tasteful ideas :
1. Of course, Paksiw Na Lechon. But this is not meant to be too sweet.Cook it just right, maybe add more liver instead of sugar to let the umami taste dominate. get the ribs, a little meat and skin, then partly simmer with vinegar, garlic, pepper and liver sauce.
2. Sprinkle a good amount of salt on the surface of the meat, then store in the freezer. Next day, slow-fry (from cold oil to hot) till brown and crispy, serve with fried rice and slices of tomatoes on the side and you have a Fried Crispy Lechon for breakfast – oh, don’t forget your “sawsawan” – vinegar with freshly crushed garlic.
3. You have a whole roasted pig’s head — slice off the cheecks and loose meats. Mince the meat, add chillies, vinegar with a little calamansi, season with salt and pepper, then spoon onto a sizzling plate and you have instant Lechon Sisig !
4. In a pot, reduce coconut cream with green chillies then add lechon. Voila! Lechon sa Gata ! Add some veggies like kalabasa or eggplant or sitaw.
5. For a more upscale Lechon make-over, roll in tortilla with yourfavorite vegetable and you have Lechon Wrap !
6. Or shred some Lechon meat, toss some sliced red onions and alugbati in vinaigrette, put in freshly baked crusty bread and add a slice of kesong puti — Lechon Sandwich !
7. How about a Lechon Maki? Nori and sushi rice with lechon flakes, then rolled tightly. The most important step is to add the wasabi. If you never tasted Lechon with wasabi, now’s the time !
8. Lechon Topping : Fry or bake the remaining Lechon meats and dice. If there’s extra skin – fry till crispy. You can place this on top of rice, mami noodles, veggies, fried rice, lugaw or salad.
9. Turn the remaining Lechon into something so different you’ll never be hard pressed to call it leftovers at all. The smoke flavor of the slowly roasted meat adds a distinct taste to your make-over dish. Try this Sinigang recipe :
Ingredients
1kg Lechon leftover
500ml Water
1 Tblsp Cooking Oil
3 pcs Tomatoes, sliced
40g Onion, sliced
250ml Tamarind Juice (Boil tamarind in 1 cup water and extract the juice)
80g String Beans, cut into 1-1.5
100g Eggplant, sliced
100g Radish, sliced
50g, Kangkong(water spinach) leaves
Salt and Pepper
Procedure:
In a casserole, saute onion and tomatoes in oil. Add Lechon.
Pour water, tamarind juice and simmer for 5-10 mins. Add radish, eggplant and string beans. Simmer until cooked.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add kangkong before serving
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Photo References :

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