On the First Day of...

2015...

Happy New Year!

We woke up on the first day of the year to a chilly morning and the lovely sound of... silence!  I swear there is nothing more comforting than silence after an explosive night!  A quick look at our street and I was pleasantly surprised to see it relatively clean, with most of the remnants of fireworks and firecrackers swept in small piles.  At 8 in the morning, there was no one outside at all (still sleeping off the effects of the festivities of the previous night, I suppose).

Ironically, though, considering I was the last one to go to bed the night before (everyone woke up right before midnight to witness the festivities), I was the first to be awake.  Force of habit?

Anyway, the first order of the day?  Breakfast, of course!

And what would be the perfect breakfast fare on a cold and chilly morning?  Congee!  It was hot and comforting, and convenient, because I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone by throwing in a whole lot of leftovers!  There was leftover lechon (roast pig) and shrimp from Media Noche, and I found the last piece of abalone mushroom.  There was a bit of chay po (preserved radish) also, initially intended for an omelette.

About a year ago I already made lechon lugaw, although the recipe for that one was not a recipe at all since I threw everything in the pot and did not measure at all.  This particular congee is similar to that one, that is to say, not made from scratch (using uncooked rice) because we also had a lot of cooked rice left over from Media Noche!   But this time, I measured the ingredients!

Here's how to make Lechon Lugaw (Roast Pig Congee):

5 thin slices of ginger
1 small onion, finely minced
about 2 cups chopped up lechon
about 6 to 8 pieces cooked shrimp
1 tablespoon chay po (optional)
1 large abalone mushroom, sliced
5 cups water (or more, depending on preference)
2-1/2 cups cooked rice
salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the ginger and onions until fragrant.  Add the chopped up lechon; stir fry several seconds.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  (At this point I usually add a bit of salt and pepper.)  When the mixture boils, add everything else, including the rice.  Stir every so often, to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Season to taste.  Add more water if desired.

The congee is done when the rice is mushy (I simmered and stirred the pot for about 20 minutes).  Add a splash of sesame oil before serving.

A final note - this is a very forgiving recipe.  It can be made with whatever is in the fridge.  I've made it with leftover roast chicken (lechon manok), leftover beef, leftover fish fillet, all sorts of balls (meat, crab, shrimp and squid), and once with leftover chopsuey (mixed vegetables)!  Even the condiments can vary - salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, whatever floats your boat.  What is important is the proportion of (cooked) rice to the water (or stock).  As a general (albeit personal) rule, I use twice the amount of water to the rice, which results in a medium consistency.  If we feel like having a thinner gruel, I add more water (gradually!).  The 2:1 ratio is by no means absolute, since the consistency also depends on the kind of rice used, because some rice absorb more water.  Simply put, feel free to experiment!

Lechon Paksiw Sinangag

Sinangag is the Filipino term for garlic fried rice.  Traditionally it is made with the previous night's leftover rice, and cooked for breakfast, usually with fried egg and some processed meat such as tapa, longganisa, tocino, etc. with resulting coined names like tosilog (TOcino, SInangag and itLOG), longsilog (LONGganisa, SInangag and itLOG), etc. 

But while sinangag is the most basic form, it can be enhanced with a few embellishments, usually leftovers too, such as adobo, binagoongan, roast chicken, bangus, and in this particular instance... lechon paksiw.  Hence,

Lechon Paksiw Sinangag.  Here with other breakfast items - sunny-side egg and spiced ham.

This is actually a recipe for a "third" generation lechon...  The original dish ("first generation") was the lechon for lola's birthday lunch.  The re-made dish ("second generation") was the lechon paksiw we had the day after.  And, we obviously had way more lechon than we could finish, so here's another remake (hence, "third" generation)!

4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small native onion, minced
2 cups shredded lechon meat (mine was from the paksiw)
about 4 cups (cooked) day-old rice
salt, to taste

Saute the garlic and onions in a mixture of canola oil and a little "fat" from the paksiw.  When fragrant, add the shredded lechon meat and stir fry a little.  Add the rice and mix well.  Cook until done.  I added a couple of tablespoons of the paksiw broth.

The verdict?  I've made lechon rice (directly) from lechon meat (not paksiw) and while it was delicious, I prefer this version made from the paksiw, because I found the rice more flavorful with the addition of the paksiw sauce.

Lechon Congee

Yup.  Still on Christmas food... specifically, leftovers...

But still delicious!  Really.

Here's one in defiance of lechon paksiw!  Lechon lugaw!  from leftover lechon and leftover rice...

Ok, the problem here is that this is a dish without a recipe...  I did not measure anything and just winged it... like this -

a big bowl of mixed lechon pata and laman (pata is the leg part and laman is meaty parts)
about a third of the rice cooker "bowl" of leftover rice
about twice as much water or chicken stock as the rice (or more if you like a soupier lugaw)
thin slices of ginger
sliced onions
minced garlic

Saute the ginger, onion and garlic.  Throw in the lechon.  Add the water or chicken stock.  Lastly add the rice.  Then stir, stir, stir.  Cook on low-medium heat until thick and creamy.  For this particular dish, we wanted a soupy congee so I added more water.  Season with salt and pepper (or patis/fish sauce).

It was perfect for breakfast this chilly morning!

Lechon Mami

Mami is a noodle soup.  The most common and popular is chicken.  Chicken Mami is considered as a comfort food.  It's one of mine, too, especially when I feel down (literally or figuratively).

And as I am still NOT feeling up to par, I am craving some major comfort!

I already had chicken sopas the other day, so while I want mami this time, I'd rather have a different flavor other than chicken...

Hence, lechon.

I had made lechon lomi before but I definitely did not want to do that much work!  I wanted a simple noodle soup with lechon as its flavoring meat.  So I followed the cooking procedure for chicken mami, except that I substituted lechon meat for the chicken meat!

And here's my comforting bowl of lechon lomi...

Here's how I made it -

1. Boil 250 grams of lechon - parts with little meat and a lot of bones - in about 6 cups of water, with an onion.  Simmer at least 45 minutes.  Strain the broth.

2. Meanwhile, chop up about 300 to 400 grams of lechon meat; set aside.  Slice an onion, mince 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, parboil some pechay leaves; set aside.

3. Rinse and boil 500 grams of thin egg noodles; drain and set aside.

4. Saute the onions and garlic.  Add the chopped lechon meat and the broth.  Season with salt.

5. Let boil.  Meanwhile arrange some noodles in a bowl and add some pechay leaves on the side.  Ladle soup and lechon meat over the noodles and pechay.

5. Garnish with spring onions and crushed chicharon, if desired.

Yummy!!!

Lechon Lomi

There was a time when I twiddled my thumbs and wondered what to do with left over lechon.  You see, it has been a tradition for us to have a whole (big) lechon at Christmas time.  And no, it's not just for us, we share it with the people we are close to everyday.  But almost always, there would be left over lechon - mostly the head, feet and rump parts - which we inevitably make into the traditional paksiw.

Not that I'm complaining - don't get me wrong, I love paksiw na lechon - but at the back of my head, there's this thought:  there must be some other dish that lechon can be part of OTHER THAN PAKSIW!!!

Well, thing is, I've been seeing lechon stalls in food courts with offerings such as:  lechon sisig, lechon sinigang, lechon dinuguan, lechon lugaw, and this:

LECHON LOMI

The recipe is pretty much the same as my usual lomi except that I used 500 grams of lechon in place of all the "meats".  The revised recipe -

500g Lomi noodles, parboiled, rinsed and drained
shallots (at least 6 pieces), sliced
4 slices of ginger
8 cloves garlic, minced
about 6 cups chicken stock
500 grams lechon, chopped
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 stalk celery, sliced diagonally (celery leaves to be used too)
Baguio pechay or shredded cabbage, shredded
2 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
cornstarch dispersed in water
2 to 3 eggs, beaten lightly
For the garnish:
1 to 2 stalks leeks, green part only, sliced diagonally

Heat oil over low heat and brown the shallots (keep heat on low).  When the shallots have browned, remove them from the oil and increase the heat to medium-high. 

Saute the ginger and garlic (add more oil, if necessary).  Pour in the stock and let it boil.  Add the lechon, carrot strips and celery leaves.  Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper, to taste.  Let the mixture boil again then add the noodles and pechay leaves.

When the mixture boils again, thicken with cornstarch water.  Check seasonings again.  Then, while stirring constantly, slowly pour in beaten eggs, while stirring.  Remove from heat immediately.

Before serving, garnish with leeks and browned shallots.  Serve with calamansi and fresh ground pepper on the side.

It's yummy for such a day like today...