Lechon Kawali Recipe and Tien Sauce

If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down

Brace yourself. This will be a long post since I am going to take you to a memory lane where names and memories from the past are reminisced and shared.

When I was in college, which was a very loooooooong time ago, there was no ATM nor bank to bank deposit yet. So, my mom sent my monthly sustenance/allowance by boat.( I can just imagine  you calculating how this long time ago means.) My mom sent my allowance through Toto. Now, it is official, the long time ago means during the inception of Dorothy from Wizard of OZ - that was during 16-00 -----when Dorothy's dog, Toto existed. No, this is not Toto the dog but Toto the name of  the man who is the bearer of my treasure. Each month, by instinct, I go to Pier 3 (where the boat dock), and here I am accepting the treasure that was handed to me. I was instantly rich!  Oh my, as I was writing this line, I am kind of embarrassed on how ancient that time was.

Now, what should I do with all the money? I go to a restaurant named Broadway This restaurant had tons of Filipino foods lined up in it counter: lechon, (whole roasted pig), pancit ( noodles), adobo, sweet and sour dinuguan ( blood stew?) and all types of different foods. Last but not the least,  lechon kawali. Their lechon kawali was so crispy and delicious that I frivolously spent my whole month's allowance in that place. Pretty much, I had nothing left in that allowance when I got out from that restaurant. It was that good,that I am willing to get hungry throughout the month.

I did not really get to learn to cook lechon kawali when I was in the Philippines. I just learned it when I moved here in the US. Before, I cooked the meat by deep frying and it was an agony to do this. Hot oil splattered everywhere and my arms, neck and face never came out not burned; so I refrain from cooking it until Amy, my good friend, told me to bake and broil it. I am going to share to you how to do just that.

On another note, Tien is not actually a fish sauce brand but a human who happens to work with my husband. He is an young engineer. He was born in Vietnam and moved here in the US when he was 12 years old. He interned in Bombardier (my husband's workplace) and he got hired after graduating. That is an amazing feat  for a young kiddo like him. Currently, Tien had just clenched the "nook of fame in my house." This means he is ever present in every lecture I give to my children. Aside from my husband, he is the other guy who I want my children to emulate. Being an engineer, I thought he is smart too. Honestly, I think engineers are smarter than the rest of us. Imagine making a living by solving problems, analyzing  and doing those through numbers, and doing these everyday, that is something else.

One day, Tien gave my husband a white squash ( upo in Filipino)  which he got  from his parents garden .It was as tall as I am, that I do not know what else to do with it. He  is generous guy. He also gave my husband this fish sauce recipe which I appropriately called Tien's sauce in his honor...

When my husband came home from work one day, he cannot stop raving a certain sauce that Tien brought to work. I was surprised that somebody will bring  a fish sauce at work. In the cafeteria. Should I say, how brave is that? With  this, I pretty much conclude that Tien is a courageous guy who doesn't mind what people think of him. If you have smelled fish sauce aroma, you will understand why I said this.

Lechon Kawali and Tien Sauce

Ingredients:

2 lbs pork belly slice in a long 1" strips. (have the butcher do it for you or you can do it yourself) It should be bacon size length but 1 1/2 " to 2 " thick.
salt


Direction;

Put water, salt  and meat in the pan and bring to a boil and cook until soft. When done, let it cool and place in a zip loc. Refrigerate until you are ready to cook it.

Preheat oven at 350  F
Place pork belly in a baking pan line with the oil drain and bake for 45 minutes or until the belly looks golden brown. Change oven  into low broil setting . Broil at low until the belly looks crunchy. Make sure that you will not burn the meat.

Tien Sauce

1 lemon
5 cloves garlic
1/4 water
3 tbsp sugar
Bit of chili pepper ( depending on how spicy you want it)
2 cups Fish Sauce ( Make sure that the sauce is the one pictured above. It is available in Asian store. It has different tastes from Rufina and Teparos brand)

Lechon Kawali

Put water, salt  and meat in the pan and bring to a boil and cook until soft. When done, let it cool and place in a zip loc. Refrigerate until you are ready to cook it.

Preheat oven at 350  F
Place pork belly in a baking pan line with the oil drain and bake for 45 minutes or until the belly looks golden brown. Change oven  into low broil setting . Broil at low until the belly looks crunchy. Make sure that you will not burn the meat.

Tien Sauce:

Crush the garlic and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Place into a bottle or a container. Refrigerate.

Note: If you prefer to just try the sauce first, make a smaller batch  and just tweak the ingredients depending on how you want the sauce to taste.

Tien's sauce is perfect for any dish like fried fish, grilled fish grilled chicken but the sauce fits like a glove when paired with lechon kawali. It is like pea in a pod comb

Rellenong Manok Stuffed Chicken for Christmas or Thanksgiving Filipino Roasted Chicken

When I was in the Philippines, I did not really hear about Rellenong Manok. I only heard its fish counterpart which is Rellenong Bangus. So when I saw this recipe in Adora's Box, I was curious and got myself into " baking mode." The most difficult part of this meal is the deboning of the chicken. It is not actually that difficult when I thought about it, it just get messy and when you have 3 people clamoring for their  food to get done, it gets frustrating. 

I cut the chicken through the back using a sharp knife. I think using a kitchen scissor is the  easier way to go but since I cannot find my kitchen scissor, I just had to make do of the knife. I had some croutons in my freezer so I used that as stuffing base  instead of the bread crumbs. Actually, I changed the recipe on whatever I got in my pantry.

I did not really have much idea what a chorizo was, so I presumed it is a Chinese sausage- which is easily accessible in our Asian market. I used Bratwurst sausage to add more taste in the stuffing. I brined the chicken for 4 hours and when we arrived from church, I started working on getting done with the meal. 

The stuffing was different from the stuffing they have here in the US. It had a very authentic Filipino taste. Remember our Filipino dishes, they always have different taste in each meal, this accomplished that. This will be a subject of discussion in your dinner table, because it is deliciously unique. The additional raisin in the stuffing made the stuffing hard to forget. The Chinese sausage tied all the taste into very well laid out combo of sweetness and saltiness. A week after tasting this meal, you will be thinking, "How did I thatt symphony of tastes came about?" It will stir curiosity on you taste buds. For me, at least. I say this is worth the time and effort you put into it. This meal is so delicious! 

Rellenong Manok

2 cups crush/ ground Crouton ( I used garlic flavor in mine)
2 bratwurst sausage (slice into small pieces)
2 Chinese style sausage (slice into small pieces)
2 stalk celery ( minced)
1/3 cup figs or raisins
7 cloves garlic ( crushed)
1 small onion
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 boiled egg
1 whole chicken deboned

Chicken Preparation:

Using a scissor or a knife cut the chicken at the back . Debone chicken. I found that it was easier to slice the chicken at the back. Leave the thigh and wing bones.This will give shape to the chicken.
Let the chicken brine in the ref for 4 hours or more.
When ready to cook, drain the brined chicken and dry with a kitchen towel or paper towel to remove excess water.

For the stuffing preparation:

Place the oil, garlic and onion in a large bowl and  microwave for 3 minutes
Add in ingredients 1 to 5 and mix thoroughly .Cover and leave in the refrigerator for an hour or two.

Boil the egg and remove the shell. Set aside.

When Ready to Cook:

Place the stuffing on the chicken. And place the boiled egg on top.

Suture the chicken or use a skewer to seal the chicken and wrap it in a tin foil.

Bake at 325 for an hour then change oven setting to 350 and bake for another 1 1/2 hour or until meat temperature says 190

Serve and Enjoy!