Paksiw na Lechon

How's the new year treating y'all so far? After two weeks of vacation, my daughters went back to school today...and so, I finally got the chance to make my first blog post for 2013! I know I've totally been slacking on blogging during the holidays...and I want to say thanks to everyone who sent emails to check how I was doing. All is well around here...the busy holiday season just took a toll on my blogging schedule. But I am back...and today, I am happy to bring you a favorite Filipino dish called Paksiw na Lechon.

In the Philippines, Paksiw refers to any stew cooked with vinegar and garlic. One Paksiw dish that I've already featured here on PiTCC is Paksiw na Bangus which is vinegar stewed bangus (milkfish) cooked with eggplant and bitter gourd. On the other hand, this dish that I have for you today is made from roast pork which we Filipinos call lechon. Serving lechon during the holidays and on special occasions has become a tradition in many Filipino homes. The whole roast pig is usually served with a liver-based sauce and is always placed in the center of the party table making it the center piece of the feast. Its crispy skin never fail to get the guests excited! Everyone wants get their share...but when there's no more crispy rinds left, the lechon doesn't get too much attention anymore. So what do Filipinos usually do with the leftovers??? Cooking it into pinaksiw like this is one of the most common ways of transforming the greasy leftover lechon into an appetizing dish...

Though you can also make sisig, adobo, siopao, lumpia and a lot more from leftover lechon, making paksiw from it is (for me) the best way to enjoy it. It doesn't require much ingredients and you don't have to put much time and effort. You literally just put everything into a pot and voilà!...you have a hearty dish that is even yummier as the roast pork itself. 

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. lechon (roast pork), chopped
• ½ head garlic, crushed
• 1 medium sized red onion, sliced
• ½ cup vinegar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ Tbsp peppercorns
• 2 pcs. laurel leaves
• 1 *19.4oz bottle Mang Tomas All-Purpose Sauce diluted in 1/2 cup water

Instructions:

Place lechon and all the other ingredients in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Stir well. Adjust to medium heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered for a few more minutes for the lechon to absorb the flavors. Serve with hot rice.