Une Table For Four

Squash, String Beans, and Leftover Lechon Paksiw

In most parties hosted by Filipinos, you are guaranteed to see the presence of a lechon in the buffet table. Lechon Baboy is a whole roasted pig that is succulent and somehow makes you forget your diet. If you’re a foodie, I’m pretty sure you know Lechon from Anthony Bourdain’s television show and his episode in Cebu. Cebu definitely has the best lechon in the Philippines. Some of the best are CNT, Rico’s, and Zubuchon.

Saute the garlic and onion until fragrant.

I don’t know what it is about the Lechon Baboy that somehow completes the buffet table. I’ve actually held a party once where I didn’t serve lechon because we had so much food, and it felt incomplete. And then, I attended my sister-in-law’s party which had lechon and about 3 other dishes and it didn’t feel incomplete! Since then, it’s been a cardinal rule in our household that we have to have lechon in our parties no matter what!

After the party, it is inevitable that you will have lots of leftover. Leftover lechon meat, bones, and skin. What do we do with it? It usually ends up as Lechon Paksiw. The lechon skin in lechon paksiw is my husband’s ultimate favorite. By the way, you can also make lechon kawali from the leftovers, but with us it’s lechon paksiw. Partly because my mother-in-law makes the best paksiw. I’m making a mental reminder to myself to ask her for the recipe next time.

About 3 weeks ago, my husband’s aunt had a party and she had 2 lechons. About 1/2 of the second lechon was left, so my mother-in-law turned that into lechon paksiw. I left my mother-in-law’s house that night with a kilo of lechon paksiw to bring home. I served it twice consecutively for our meals, but after the second time we had it, I thought I would vamp it out.

So what do you make with leftover paksiw? That, I had to think about. With so much consumed meat, I thought it was time to put some vegetables into it. I wanted to keep it simple, so I ended up using just squash and string beans. After sauteeing all the vegetables, I seasoned it lightly before adding the lechon paksiw, which I added last. The end result was a simple home-style dish of leftover paksiw balanced by some vegetables. Even though, I seasoned the vegetables alone, the dish tasted a lot like the lechon paksiw which I thought meshed well with the new look of the dish.

Squash, String Beans, and Leftover Lechon Paksiw

Ingredients:

• 3 cups squash, cut in small pieces
• 3 cloves, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 bundle of string beans, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 cup leftover lechon paksiw
• salt
• pepper
• cooking oil

Directions:

Heat oil. Saute garlic and onion together until fragrant. Add tomatoes. After a minute, add the squash and saute until squash are slightly cooked. Add the string beans. Saute for a couple of minutes. Season with fish sauce, salt, and pepper. Add the water and simmer until the water evaporates. When the water is fully evaporated, add the lechon paksiw. Cook for a couple of minutes. Season again if desired. Serve warm and enjoy!

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