Lechon Paksiw

So summer is officially over...here in the Philippines. But thankfully the rainy season has been kind...no flooding yet.

We took advantage of the last days of summer and visited a farm in Bulacan which is about 2 hours or so away from the capital. There was no traffic along the North Expressway, the sun was shining brightly and this was what greeted us...

Don't you just love the green green grass and plants and the blue sky?

This was my favorite part of the farm. the raised vegetable beds and the greenhouse a.k.a. baby plant nursery

Lest you think that this is just a vegetable farm, there were also goats, a few sheep, lots of chickens, some geese and of course native pigs. The people who run the farm are running it without pesticides, herbicides and artificial stuff...in short, this is an organic farm. They use vermiculture (African night crawler worms) to fertilize the plants, they also do a lot of composting etc.

One of the people there told me we were going to roast a pig, not an ordinary pig but an organic native pig (they're black in color, have less fat and are generally thought of to taste better than normal pigs). So there I was, taking all these pictures while they were preparing the pig. They butchered it before we arrived so they were just cleaning it when I got there. The Filipino way of roasting a whole pig is on a spit over hot coals. The sun was shining and it was so hot but I wasn't going to miss any of it. They used an electric fan to get the flames going (literally "fanning" the flames). While this was going on, the pig was cleaned and stuffed with native bananas we call saba, crushed garlic, lemon grass and spring onions. While it was roasting they were basting it with a mixture of patis (fish sauce), Sprite (yes the soda) and soy sauce. It took about 2 hours for the pig to be fully cooked, and it was so worth the wait!

Roasting a pig the Filipino way

I went home not only with a full stomach but also with a goody bag of freshly roasted native pig! When they asked me if I wanted to bring home some of the left-overs of course I said yes...I already had something in mind for it.

I really love roasted pig or as we call it Lechon Baboy but actually, I love cooking it as Paksiw na Lechon the next day, it just gets better and better.

The traditional accompaniment or sauce of Lechon is called Sarsa, made of pig's liver, spices, breadcrumbs etc. But nowadays we just buy the bottled Mang Tomas Lechon Sarsa which is available in supermarkets. But we didn't use any lechon sarsa for the Lechon Baboy, it was that good...no need for sauces, the taste was just perfect!

I used the Lechon Sarsa for the Paksiw na Lechon...so here is my recipe for one of my favorite dishes.
LECHON PAKSIW

1.5 kilos cooked Lechon meat

1 cup Mang Tomas Lechon Sarsa

10 cloves of Garlic, peeled and smashed

2 Bay leaves, dried

1 teaspoon Black Peppercorn

1/2 cup Cane Vinegar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Cut the lechon into 2-inch cubes. Put all ingredients in a pot and cover with enough liquid (water or stock) to submerge the meat, let mixture boil without stirring. When it is boiling, stir and turn down the heat, simmer until the sauce thickens.

Serve hot with rice :)

And there it is...the Paksiw na Lechon...one of my favorite dishes!