Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Lechon Baboy


Lechón (Tagalog: Litson and Cebuano: Inasal) is the Spanish word for suckling pig. In the Philippines, it connotes a whole roasted pig, lechón baboy. Chicken and beef, are also popular. The process of lechón involves the whole pig/piglet, chicken, or cattle/calf being slowly roasted over charcoal.

Lechón is often cooked during national festivities (known as fiestas), the holiday season, and other special occasions such as weddings, graduations, birthdays and baptisms, or family get-togethers. The lechón is usually the highlight and the most popular dish of these events. It is usually served with a liver-based sauce. However, in some cases, it may be served Chinese style with steamed buns and a sweet plum sauce.


Another version of lechón, called lechón kawali, involves boiling then frying pieces of pork.
Leftover lechón in the Philippines is easily recycled into another delectable dish, called Paksiw na Lechon. Paksiw na Lechon involves cooking the left-over Lechon by boiling it in vinegar making the meat moist and the skin very soft.
In Metro Manila, a popular place to purchase Lechon is La Loma, an area within the boundary area between Manila and Quezon City. Many restaurants selling Lechon year round can be found there.
Lechon Cebu is a very popular variety of the dish.
Typical of natives now called Filipinos is that they replace normal words used to describe something with the popular "newer" words, Filipino method of roasting a pig is placing the pig on a spit and baking it on charcoals and wiping the skin with a brush made out of leaves with water and the pig's own fat. This makes the skin "pop" and eventually crunchy.
The pig had always been the center of communal feasts in pre-Hispanic Philippines, and "Lechon" is the normal manner it is prepared, from the remote part of the country where no Westernerners ever seen to the lowland Christianized Filipinos. But only lowland Christians use the word lechon to describe it.



This dish is also popular in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and many other parts of the Spanish-speaking world.



1 comment:

Unknown said...

Lechon cebu taste good. The tasty meat and crunchy skin was yummmy. Its very delicious. The meat was tender and juicy. Yum yum yum. No need to add sauce on it because its tasty already. Its flavorful.

try www.lechoncebu.com