That's me, my make shift lechon grill (manual) and my lechonero shirt!! That was a good lechon for a first time lechonero.
One of my truly favorite dishes in the world is lechon. Nothing beats a crispy roasted lechon skin!! Especially the part of the pigs "batok"!! Crispy salty pork skin with nicely toasted pork fat attached to it.
There are decades old lechon restaurants like Lydia's, Mila's and Elar's. They have supplied our birthday parties, baptismals, weddings and a lot of important Filipino celebrations. A Filipino celebration should always be earmarked with a lechon. When I was a sous chef at the Manila Polo Club I was able to see all the kinds of lechon that were served in parties and in banquets. My criteria for a good lechon is the skin color, the crispiness and flavor of the skin and the flavor of the meat.
My consistent winner or best all around "Manila" lechon was of Elar's. They have consistently been better than the other lechon suppliers. The skin is really crispy and the meat inside is soft. The sauce is also very good. You can still taste the liver component of the sauce. Its not to sweet and also not runny.
I have been frequenting Cebu lately. It has become my new favorite food destination. I visit Cebu quarterly and my number 1 mission is to eat lechon. They have really great lechon. Much better than the ones served in Manila. The skin is cripier and also more flavorful. The meat inside is softer and they use fillings and aromatics that gives the lechon another dimension. The cebu lechon does not need sauce. No need for the liver sauce. It's much more flavorful. If you try cebu lechon, Manila lechon is so much more inferior. So much more commercial.
I tried cooking lechon de leche (see photos above). I think I was quite successful. The skin was crispy and the meat was flavorful. I got a lechon de leche about 6 to 7 kilos whole. I cleaned it thoroughly. I used leeks, ginger, sampaloc leaves, salt, pepper and msg (oops, that was a tip frm a litsonero) for the filling. I sealed it with an abaca rope. A technique I still have to perfect. The belly opened midway in the cooking process. Spilling the flavors into the fire. I rubbed the skin with patis and salt (overkill). Then let it dry. I used the Roast Duck method in which I placed a fan in front of it thus drying the skin. Removing moisture in the skin is supposed to make the skin crispier when fried. I cooked it over an improvised spit for about 3 hours.
It came out better than I expected. The skin was crispy and very flavorful. The patis makes all the difference. The meat inside was soft and falling off the bone. The tamarind lending its flavor to the meat was divine!! Perfect combination.
Realizations:
Once you try fresh from the pit roasted lechon, every other lechon will taste like shit. We are used to eating lechon that was cooked hours before. It also had to endure the delivery trip. The usual waiting for the guests to arrive and finally the hours it had to endure in the chafing dish or the bilao. That in itself is lechon murder.
Eating freshly roasted lechon is unlike any other lechon experience. The skin is still hot and is at its full cripy glory. The fresh cooked meat is still packed with juices and the flavor.
To all lechon addicts out there, try at least once to have a fresh lechon made for you in your own backyard. There are still hundreds of lechoneros out there. All you need is a good sized whole pig, a lechonero and a backyard. There is nothing like eating freshly cooked lechon. It is truly beyond words. You will never ever look at lechon the same way again.
yum!
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