The Happy Home Cook: Paksiw na Lechon (Roast Pork in Homemade Liver Sauce and Vinegar)

The Happy Home Cook features cherished recipes of Filipino dishes from well-known foodies and contributors. If you have a recipe that you are proud of and would like to share, please send it along with a photo of the dish, your two-sentence bio and your picture to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.

Paksiw na Lechon (Source: Kulinarya: A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine, Expanded Second Edition (Anvil Publishing Inc., 2013))

"The winds that wafted roast pig into our culture were strong ones," declared Doreen G. Fernandez, "engraving lechon indelibly in our lives. Lechon kawali, lechon Bocaue, lechon de leche; lechon por kilo; pigs roasted by hand at fiestas, mechanically in cities, in bakery ovens in the U.S.; litsunin stuffed with whatever is customary or desired (tanglad or lemon grass, tamarind leaves, mango leaves, or banana leaves; paella, tausi or salted soy beans, pork and beans even). Then, after the roast, paksiw na lechon."

Some actually prefer lechon the day after, when it has been cooked in its salsa (gravy-like sauce of roasted liver, vinegar, garlic and sugar), with spices, into paksiw na lechon. "Talk about prolonging pleasure and sharing it with those who were not around in the delicious beginning."

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 kg leftover lechon

3 cups (750ml) bottled or homemade liver sauce

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup (80ml) vinegar

1/3 cup (80ml) water

1 tablespoon (15g) white sugar (optional)

salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation: Chop lechon into 1-inch pieces.

Cooking

1. In a preheated pot, combine lechon meat, lechon sauce, bay leaves, vinegar, water and sugar. simmer over medium heat until the meat is fork-tender.

2. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serving Suggestion: Serve warm. Accompany with steamed rice.

Lechon Sauce

Ingredients 

1/4 kg pork liver

3 cups (750ml) water

3/4 cup (115g) bread crumbs

1/4 cup (55g) sugar

salt and pepper, to taste 

Preparation

1. Grill the pork liver until half-cooked.

2. When cool enough to handle, chop the liver roughly and puree in a blender with 1 cup water. Set aside.

Cooking

1. In a pot, combine the pureed liver, the remaining 2 cups of water, vinegar, breadcrumbs and sugar. Simmer over medium heat. Add more water if needed.

2. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tips

Traditional paksiw na lechon is made with leftover lechon -- the head, the legs, tail, and softened skin under the belly. Alternatively, specific lechon cuts can be purchased at markets by the kilo. In either case, it is recommended that the meat be sliced neatly into cubes and the skin cut with poultry shears. Simmered gently in lechon gravy (sarsa or salsa) and spices, the once-crisp skin turns soft and chewy, a different experience that is almost as good as its first crunchy incarnation.

Liver sauce contributes a lot to the flavor of paksiw na lechon. In may parts of the Visayas, however, where lechon is hardly ever acoompanied by sarsa, a recipe for a liver sauce from scratch is included here with which to make the traditional paksiw na lechon. 

From Kulinarya, A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine, Expanded Second Edition. (Anvil Publishing, 2013)