Lechón
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Lechón is a pork dish in several regions of the world, most specifically Spain and its former colonial posessions throughout the world. The word lechón originated from the Spanish term leche (milk); thus lechón refers to a suckling pig that is roasted. Lechón is a popular cuisine in the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, other Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America, and Spain. The dish features a whole roasted pig cooked over charcoal. Nowadays in most of Latin America, the original use of a suckling pig has given way to a medium-sized adult pig.
Lechón is often cooked during the festival season (known as fiestas), the holiday season, and other special occasions, and is made by skewering the whole pig on a large stick and cooking it in a pit filled with flamed charcoal. The meat is placed over this flamed charcoal; turning the stick in a rotisserie action, the meat is roasted on all sides for several hours. The meat's own fat is used for basting by wiping the skin with a brush made of leaves drenched in water. This makes the skin crunchy. Lechón is served with plum or other sauces, vinegar, or with other seasonings or accompaniments.
Other types of cooked meat such as lechón asado, and adobo are also popular dishes. In the Philippines, the term Lechón is also used to refer to meat cooked on a pit, such as lechón baka (roast beef) and Lechón manok (roast chicken).
There are other Philippine versions of lechón, known as lechón kawali and Paksiw na lechón. Lechón kawali involves boiling the processed meat, and then frying the pieces of pork in a frying pan. Paksiw na lechón involves cooking the left-overs of the main-course lechón by boiling it in a vinegar mix, making the meat moist, and then stir-frying it along with other marinated ingredients.
