A popular Christmas dish in the Philippines is Lechon. This is a dish of roasted pork shoulder, served with a sauce made from liver paste (Lechon).
The sauce had more of a vinegar taste than liver (at least to me). Don’t worry, if you really can’t bring yourself to cook or eat liver, the pork can also be served with soy sauce. You can also purchase lechon sauce.
The pork itself is juicy and flavorful. This lechon recipe is very simple, but the fat from the pork shoulder gives it a lot of flavor.
The fat came out nice and crispy. I’ll admit, I enjoyed eating the fat as much as the meat. It was like making a roast wrapped in bacon.
I now have quite a bit of Lechon Sauce left over, so you could certainly half or quarter this recipe. I think I’m going to make some Lechon Paksiw with the leftover sauce. More on that at a later date.
Filipino Lechon
3 lbs pork shoulder
salt and pepper
3 cloves of garlic, halved
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Rinse off meat and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (enough to coat the entire roast once).
With fatty side up, make a few slits on the meat and insert garlic cloves. Place in a roasting pan fatty side up. Add 1/4 cup of water.
Bake uncovered for 2-3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 165 F. Serve with lechon sauce or vinegar/soy sauce dipping sauce.
Lechon Sauce
1 1/4 cup liver paste (use a food processor to liquefy slices of liver)
2/ 3 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2/3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup onion, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the vegetable oil in a sauce pan. When the oil is hot enough, saute the garlic and onions until soft.
Add the liver paste and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat while stirring.
Add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Stir for a minute.
Add water and bring to a boil. Stir-in the brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the bread crumbs and cook for another 2 minutes while stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool. Place the sauce in a blender then blend for a minute.
Transfer the sauce in a serving bowl. Serve along with Lechon.
Lechon Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup liver paste, use a food processor to liquefy slices of liver
- 2/ 3 cup bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2/3 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup onion, minced
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a sauce pan.
- When the oil is hot enough, saute the garlic and onions until soft.
- Put-in the liver paste and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat while stirring.
- Add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Stir for a minute.
- Pour-in water and bring to a boil.
- Stir-in the brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the bread crumbs and cook for another 2 minutes while stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool. Place the sauce in a blender then blend for a minute. Transfer the sauce in a serving bowl. Serve along with Lechon.