Lechon Paksiw

Lechon is a well known and close to becoming the national food of the Philippines. It refers to a whole pig roasted over live coals. Lechon is best eaten while the rind is still crisp, with the sweet-sour liver dunking sauce on the side.

It is commonly served or seen during special occasions here in the Philippines. Sometimes, there are left overs of lechon which is being refrigerated overnight and will be eaten the following day.The most popular way of serving leftover lechon is by cooking them as a stew–paksiw.

Paksiw is the generic name for stews made with vinegar. To make paksiw na lechon, the meat is slow-cooked in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaves, sugar, salt and whatever leftover liver sauce there is.

It sometimes happens that there is no leftover sauce. In which case, some substitutions may be in order. One option is to use commercial lechon sauce available bottled in most supermarkets. Another option is to use a can of liver spread diluted in a cup of meat broth. Or, if you have a lot of leftover lechon, you may choose both options and mix them all together.

Lechon Paksiw Recipe Ingredients:

* 1 kilo of leftover lechon meat (with skin)
* 1/4 cup vinegar
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 cup lechon sauce (Use Mang Tomas Lechon Sauce commercially available in bottles, or the sauce provided by the Lechon supplier)
* 1/2 head garlic, crushed
* 1/2 cup brown sugar (can be customized according to taste)
* 1 teaspoon pepper corn
* 1 laurel or bay leaf

How To Cook Lechon Paksiw:

1.) Mix together the above ingredients except the bay leaf.

2.) Boil the mix ingredients.

3.) Lower heat, simmer until the meat is tender.

4.) Add more water as needed.

5.) Add the bay leaf.

Lechon paksiw is best served while hot and with a combination of a hot plain rice.