Pritchon Lechon Atbp.

It is Saturday again ... the day I have lunch with my family. I always get excited because I get to cook for them what they like and also what I have been craving for the week. Last Wednesday, it was shown on TV the food they have prepared for the inaugural ball of P-Noy. I saw the Pritchon!!!! I have tasted it several times at parties, although I'm not much of a fan, I still like the idea of making my own! I've already served my own Pritchon years ago.

I've mentioned in my previous entries, I have to prepare different kinds of food for almost each member of my family. There was no soup for Gilly today but there was fried chicken lollipop (again) and I made the Jollibee sweet kind of Spaghetti. How funny because it was Lisa, from the US, who told me about the UFC Sweet Style Spaghetti Sauce! Gilly liked it, even the adults did.

My sister, Gina, requested Chicken Curry with all the condiments after reading my curry post in my blog. It was Ate, Tita Portia and Kuya who enjoyed it.

My brother in law, Butch, had the Lechon Kawali and spaghetti also.

..... and the Pritchon was for me! Ok! Ok! I changed my plate and also ate the spaghetti and Lechon Kawali but I did not eat the curry anymore. I just had that the other day.

Lechon Kawali Recipe

1 k. Pork Belly, Lechon Kawali cut

2 L. water

2 T. rock salt

10 pcs. black peppercorn

Boil the belly with the rest of the ingredients for 1 hour. Remove from the stock (save for another dish),

drain and air dry for about 3 hours. (Use an electric fan to hasten the drying process.)

( I also boiled the pork skin I have in the freezer for my bagoong guisado I'm planning to cook soon.)

Wrap the boiled pork in sarap wrap or in plastic wrap and freeze over night or store in the freezer and cook when you have emergency visitors.

Unwrap the pork but do not thaw and put it on the rack inside the turbo broiler, skin side up. Set the timer for 40 minutes at 200C. Then increase the temperature to 250C and cook for 20 minutes more. Dip the brush in water and brush the skin of the pork with water(if you want it with blisters), then with the oil which dripped in the pan every 5 minutes (last 20 minutes of cooking). Let the lechon rest for 10 minutes before chopping to retain the juice of the meat. Serve with Mang Tomas.

Pritchon - I know there are different sauces and dips : lechon sauce, honey mustard, ceasar dressing, etc. but my fave is the hoisin sauce.

Sliced Lechon Kawali

sliced cucumber

sliced onion leeks, white part only

Lee Kum Kee Hoisin sauce

Village Gourmet Tortilla - small

spring onions, wilt by passing through the flame of the stove

Cut tortilla in half and spread 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce. Put several slices of cucumber, leeks and lechon in the center and roll the tortilla. Secure by tying with the wilted spring onion leaf.

Sweet Spaghetti Sauce

garlic, chopped

onions, chopped

1/2 K. ground beef

750 grams UFC Sweet Style Spaghetti Sauce

4 pcs. Purefoods regular hotdog, sliced

grated cheddar cheese

Saute garlic and the onion. Add ground beef, cook until it is no longer pink in color. Add the sliced hotdogs... then the UFC sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. Pour over the noodles and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top.

I was surprised my guests liked it! They even asked me what I used... so I suppose it's a thumb's up! The only kind of spaghetti I like is the sweet kind with hotdog... I don't like pasta dishes that much but will eat it if I have no choice.

While I was attending mass at the Ateneo Chapel, I was already thinking of what I am going to cook for dinner. I didn't want to eat the same food again. I couldn't decide if I will eat pinakbet with the left over lechon or pancit bihon CON lechon! But then... I said to myself... I have to have fiber in my body. Dr. Tricia always tells us we need FIBER. I also bought fresh Tilapia from Rustan's and fried it.

So I had a very delicious but very BAD pinakbet with lechon. I like my vegetables crisp tender and not over done. I've eaten overcooked... mushy ... grayish in color pinakbet. It is a very simple dish to make but very easy to "murder" also.

NOT very healthy Pinakbet but YUM

1 T. pork fat drippings from the broiled lechon kawali (or regular cooking oil if you don't want to clog your arteries but it is going to be ordinary pinakbet only)

half a head garlic, crushed

1 onion, sliced

2 tomatoes, sliced

6 slices of ginger

1 T. fresh alamang (if health conscious) or 2 T. (if not health conscious)

left over lechon kawali

1 C. water

eggplant, sliced diagonally

squash, sliced thinly

sitaw, cut into 2 inch length

okra, sliced diagonally into 3

Heat the pork fat drippings, saute the garlic, onions, tomatoes and ginger. Then add the fresh alamang, continue cooking for a minute... add the lechon kawali pieces and then water. When it begins to boil over the smallest burner, layer the vegetables. Eggplant, then squash on top.. sitaw... okra...jalapeno. Without lowering the heat, cook covered for 3 minutes, then remove the cover and cook until the vegetables are tender but still crisp. Do NOT stir and toss once you've added the vegetables.