In our family, whenever there's occasion with Lechon, the sure leftover the following day is its head. We then re-cook it paksiw-style. And it's got to have that slight sweetness to match the sourness(not sour face:))
This I cooked was a little older than Lechon de Leche. The head's small. My son volunteered to chop it. I don't know what kind of hatred he had to the pig when it was yet alive that he butchered it well.LOL! I picked the ones bigger in size for photo-taking.
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| I know that this photo looks displeasing to the eyes, but this is sort of a remembrance of how my son and I laughed in the kitchen that day when I asked him to cut the lechon head. |
In my recipe and almost always to all the food I cook for my family, I put a lot of garlic - one head. I don't know but I believe it kills off any unpleasant smell, especially to meat or it's just me:) Other ingredients are onion, black peppercorns, laurel leaf, vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar.
I just dump everything in to the pot, allow it to boil once, adjust the fire to low and then let it simmer. I occasionally stir to even out the flavor and color. I don't like my Paksiw with too much sauce on it but, at times, I've no choice because of our dogs. They're fed with table food.They tend to eat a lot if their rice is mixed with the sauce of either Humba or Adobo or Paksiw. It's done for me when the water has receded and the oil's out, careful not to get burned.
I normally don't like to eat it right away while it's hot. I want an hour or so to pass so that all the flavors have seeped in.