Lechon for All Seasons

Lechon is a Filipino delicacy found in fiestas, weddings, birthdays, or whatever occasion there is. It is always the center of attraction on the buffet table. Lechon is the Tagalog translation of roast pork.

After it gets roasted, the pig’s skin becomes so crispy that it produces a crackling sound while being munched. The taste is enhanced when it is dipped with a gravy-like sauce, which is collectively known as “Mang Tomas,” even though “Mang Tomas” is just a brand of the gravy-like sauce that is specifically made for roasted pigs and chickens. To many Lechon lovers, the skin is the tastiest and most delicious part. In parties, the meat and fats are often left out because of the bland taste.

The delicacy is believed to originate from the China. After generations of tweaks from the original recipe, Lechon became a lot different from the recipe that the Chinese introduced to us many centuries ago.

Roasting a pig is an easy but long process. After all of the pig’s internal organs are removed, it is stuffed with either Sampaloc, Tanglad or Onion leaves to provide aroma and a little sour after taste. Then a bamboo stick is pierced in its mouth until it passes through the anus. The bamboo stick serves as the pig’s holder while it is being roasted under the charcoal. The bamboo stick is then rotated continuously for three hours or more – depending on the size of the pig that is being roasted, so it will have an even brown color. The brown color signifies that the pig is already roasted. At what shade of brown will one know that the roasting process is finished is upon the discretion of the one roasting the pig.

No cooking oil is required. The pig’s body fat, which boils in the process of roasting, serves as the oil. Its body fat is also the reason why the pig’s skin becomes very crunchy after it gets roasted.

A lechon makes any Filipino celebration a real feast!  It is even better served as the perfect complement to other traditional dishes such as pansit, pinakbet, kare-kare, crispy pata, fruit salad and ube macapuno. 

 

 

 Source:

Global Pinoy

First Posted by Carrie B. Yan on 12/28/2010 03:48 PM

The Best Lechon in the Philippines

It seems not even a possible outbreak of swine flu could stop TIME Magazine from declaring "lechon", a Philippine pork delicacy, as the "Best Pig" on its  Best of Asia 2009 list.

According to TIME, the idea for hailing "lechon" came from celebrity TV chef Anthony Bourdain, well-known for his voracious taste for all things pork, who declared the Cebu lechon as "the best pig ever" on his hit travel-food show "No Reservations."

"Many viewers were as surprised by the hyperbole as by the country he situated it in. But not Filipinos, among whom the zenith of porky perfection is an indisputable fact. It was just a matter of time before the rest of the world found out," said TIME writer Lara Day on the magazine's write-up.

Day went on to describe how the delicious delicacy is prepared with a variety of stuffings and spices, and eventually cooked slowly over a coal-fire until it is golden brown and crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. "You could call it the Platonic ideal of a pig, but it's doubtful if Plato, or even an entire faculty of philosophers, could have imagined anything so exquisite," she wrote.

Gastronomic treat
During the episode of "No Reservations" shot in the Philippines, Bourdain was seen snacking on the crunchy brown skin of a steaming newly-roasted pig and jokingly asking his tour-guide, Chicago-born Filipino-American Augusto Elefano, not to let anyone touch the pig's cheeks, intending to have the juicy part all to himself.

On Bourdain's blog entry titled "The Hierarchy of Pork", he declared the pork he tried in the Philippines as the "best in the world" followed by Bali, Indonesia and Puerto Rico.

During his short food trip in Manila, Cebu, and Pampanga, Bourdain also enjoyed several "porky" treats including sisig and barbecue. He tried many Filipino favorites including bulalo, kare-kare, fishballs, pansit palabok, sisig, sinigang, and even gamely popped a goat eye into his mouth with a smile.

Aside from calling the Cebu lechon "the best pig ever", Bourdain also said that tapsilog's beef was "ugly as hell but good" and described the popular soy-based street food "taho" as "like meatloaf in beancurd form."

Aside from "Best Pig", TIME Magazine also hailed several Asian destinations and trends including Tokyo as the "Best Place to Contemplate the Passing of Wealth", the Nu River Valley in China as the "Best Place to Visit Before It's Gone", and Helmand in Afghanistan as the "Best Place to Swim in a Warzone", among others.

Source:
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Lechon CEBU, Time Magazine's Best Pig

Cebu's Pride - LECHON For all season (the secret technique in here!)

Basic Techniques in Preparing A Barrio Fiesta Lechon

A lot of people love to eat a roast pig or what they call it lechon. It is a very common dish for Filipino festivities, birthdays, wedding, family reunion, and Christmas parties. Lechon was introduced by the Spaniards centuries ago while some evidence links it to Chinese immigrants. Many restaurants in the Philippines sell lechon and La Loma is often considered the “Lechon Capital of the Philippines”.

In preparing lechon, the first thing you do is to clean a dressed suckling pig. Rub inside with salt, and then allow dripping. Pass a bamboo pole thru pig and tie the feet.

Fill the part nearly belly with a mixture of ground black pepper, bay leaf, pounded garlic and native onion. Roast over charcoal.

LECHON SAUCE

1 pig’s liver, roasted rare

½ cup vinegar

2 tbsp. oil

1 head garlic, pounded

1 large onion cut every fine

Salt and pepper

Fine breadcrumbs

Cut liver in pieces then pound in a mortar. Mix with enough water and pass thru a sieve. In oil sauté garlic and onion, Add strained liver, vinegar, sugar, and seasonings. Cook over slow fire; thicken with breadcrumbs.

When eating, dunk lechon into sauce.

Marketing, Location Factors of lechon business’ success

Behind the Success of Ben's Lechon - The Famous Lechon in Cebu.

Inspired to create and setup his own business, Cebuano businessman Alexander Choachuy, Jr. decided to invest in Cebu's favorite lechon (roasted pig) in 2002.

Choachuy said he believed Cebu's lechon would be easier to market because it was already a popular food product.

He then set up his first kiosk at Savemore at Mactan Marina Mall in 2002 with only a few thousands as capital.

“I decided to venture into the lechon business as my first because I thought there are many people here in Cebu who would know how to make it, the process of cooking lechon. Now my challenge is how I can do it better and produce the best tasting lechon in Cebu,” he said.

Choachuy said that during the first few months, he had to operate his lechon outlet at a loss with only very low sales.

He said it's normal for every business to experience that especially when one still has to prove himself to the very discriminating market of Cebu.

“My brand Se Ben's Lechon was not yet known then and we were still trying to convince people to try us out. That time other brands were also already popular among buyers both local and tourists,” he said.

He and his employees sacrifices eventually bore fruit as his lechon business started picking up in the second year of operation that he could afford to expand and open another kiosk in Marina Mall to cater to more buyers in the mall.

He also added another product to his roasted products – lechon manok or roasted chicken.

He also added a restaurant and three more kiosks in Mandaue City and Cebu City.

“We then opened more with more and more people wanting to buy our lechon. We opened a restaurant in the north reclamation area, a kiosk in White Gold, Rustan's Banawa and Parkmall,” he said.

He, however, had to close the restaurant at the North Reclamation Area because there were less traffic of people in the location.

“The food we served were a hit to our customers but the location was really the problem so we have no choice but to close it last year. We are however still looking for other areas where we will relocate the restaurant,” he said.

Choachuy attributed his success to the aggressive marketing of his products, which included placing advertisements in newspapers and doing the rounds of the companies to inform them that they were offering their lechon for corporate events.

Choachuy also is meticulous in the quality of his products in order to compete against rivals in the business.

He monitors the operation from the first process of choosing the hogs, to the slaughtering of the pigs, the cooking and the proper handling of the lechon and of course the good packaging of the product.

He said he would always implement the triple A slaughtering of their hogs for lechon to make sure that their products would be of the best quality.

“I also experiment a lot on the spices to achieve the best flavors for my lechon,” he said.

Choachuy's hands-on style of managing his business is also a positive factor in its success.

“I'm very hands on when it comes to managing Se Ben's Lechon. I often visit my kiosk to check on what my people needs in order to give the best shopping experience to our buyers,”he said.

Choachuy said that as of today, he maintians four Se Ben's Lechon areas which includes the two kiosk in Marina Mall, another one in Rustan's Banawa and another at White Gold.

Choachuy said from an employee manning his lechon kiosk, he now has four more to man his other kiosks.

Despite the competition, Choachuy said he believed that there would still be growth in the business.

He cited his increasing number of satisfied clients, who would always order from him during occasions for celebrations.

“For this March which is a month of graduation, we have already some orders and I'm sure that we'll get more in the coming weeks because most people usually place their orders for a whole lechon during the last minute,” he said.

For a whole lechon, price ranges from P2,800 to P7,000 and a kilo would be had for P440.

“We also have packaging for those who will be bringing lechon to other places as pasalubongs. Our packaging are airport-approved so they won't encounter any problems when bringing home a kilo or more,” he said.

Choachuy said he was planning on adding different flavors that would suit the customers tastes.

“While I still very much would capitalize on the traditional Cebuano lechon, I would also like to see other flavors in the future like perhaps offering spicy lechon. Although we already offer that now, I would also like our brand to be known as the best brand when it comes to these different flavors,” Choachuy said.

All-time favorite Filipino food - Lechon Baboy (Roasted Pig)

Delightful, mouth watering, Lechon Baboy (pig) is an all-time favorite Filipino food. 

Lechon baboy is prepared by stuffing the inside of the pig with a variety of herbs and vegetables, in this case lemongrass (tanglad), garlic (bawang), onions (sibuyas), and ginger (luya). The pig is then roasted over a fire for a very long time, resulting in tender meat and a rich, dark brown, and crispy skin. It is brought to the buffet table, usually with a red apple in its mouth, carved, and served with a liver-based sauce. 

Lechon Baboy (pig) is usually prepared during birthday party, fiesta, graduation or an special occasion in a person's life.

Contact Ben's Lechon now for tasty, crispy and delicious Baboy Lechon.  

Visit us on facebook to know more about BEN'S LECHON. @ http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/BensLechon

Cebu Baboy Lechon Recipe

LECHON INGREDIENTS

1 whole pig (about 20 kilos)
salt
black pepper
soy sauce

For the stuffing:
5 to 10 bundles lemon grass (tanglad)
20 pcs. bananas (saba variety), peeled then halved or
20 pcs. taro (gabi), peeled

LECHON PROCEDURES
1. Clean and prepare the pig by removing innards, washing and scraping innards, washing and scraping the body of bristles. Rinse and allow to drain a bit before stuffing.
2. Rub with salt and pepper inside and out.
3. Rub soy sauce on the skin of the pig. This will make it nicely red when roasted.
4. Stuff the belly of the lechon with lemon grass along with saba and gabi. Sew to close.
5. Skewer the pig and split roast over live charcoal or traditionally, in some parts of Cebu, under live fire. Roast until crisp.
6. Cebu lechon is not served with a sauce. But if a dipping sauce is requested, vinegar with scallions and pepper may be served along with it.

The Best Cebu Authentic Lechon - BEN'S LECHON ! 

Source:

LUTONG PINOY RECIPE

http://lutongpinoy.info