Spicy Pork Lechon, photo by Ruben Ortega
Paksiw na litson
In the Philippines, it is not unheard of when people would buy huge portions of roast pork or lechon for special occasions such as Christmas, New Year, birthdays, anniversaries, fiestas, Christenings/baptisms or some other important events. Sometimes the roast pork is more than enough than what was needed. After all lechon would just be one of many food offerings on important occasions.
Lechon is very special, the pig is spit roasted over hot embers. And as such every morsel is cooked and eaten. It is, therefore, out of the question to throw away left-overs. Luckily enough there are recipes for left-over lechon and the best one is by cooking it with vinegar and a sweet sauce as in paksiw.
I think left-over oven roasted pork with pork crackling could also be deliciously cooked as paksiw. Cider vinegar or red wine vinegar would be perfect. There is a sauce widely available in all good oriental grocery stores called Mang Tomas. A good dollop of Mang Tomas with the vinegar will make any left-over roast pork that extra delicious.
Here is a very simple, easy to follow recipe:
Ingredients
Left-over lechon (or oven roasted pork, from Sunday dinner)
1 cup cider or red wine vinegar
1 cup water
1 heaped teaspoon whole pepper corns
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 dried bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup Mang Tomas All purpose sauce
Method of Preparation:
Heat the vegetable oil using a large frying pan.
Saute the garlic and onions.
Add left-over roast pork and stir for a minute.
Add the water, vinegar, bay leaves and whole peppercorns.
Increase the heat and bring to a boil.
Turn down the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Do not stir.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add the Mang Tomas all-purpose sauce and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir well.
Serve with boiled rice or some crusty bread.
Enjoy!
Paksiw Na Lechon, photo by Cristy Miclat