Slow Cooker Pork in Lechon Sauce or Paksiw na Lechon

In every big feast in the Philippines, lechon, or roasted pig will be the central focus of the buffet.  A whole pig, with its skin,  is roasted slowly over burning coals to produce this beautiful roasted masterpiece with glistening amber skin that crackles when you bite into a piece of the finished delicacy.  One can also choose to cook pork belly in the oven or deep fry it on the stove which will result in what we call Lechon Kawali.

The lechon during our wedding roasted by the Filipino community of Ames, IA where Bob and I were graduate students at Iowa State University.

To completely relish this Filipino iconic dish, we dip the lechon pieces in pork liver sauce we call lechon sauce. This sauce is made of mashed pork liver or one can resort to using liver spread or even liverwurst from the deli. It is thickened with bread crumbs and cooked using lots of garlic, vinegar and sugar. After the feast we usually end up with left overs which we then simmer further in vinegar, brown sugar and leftover lechon sauce. This dish is what we call Paksiw na Lechon.  Paksiw is a term we used for any meat or fish cooked in vinegar. This recipe is a slow cooker version of this leftover dish.

Here is the liver spread I bought at our Asian Store.  A more popular brand is Reno from the Philippines.  One can use liverwurst from the deli also.

In this recipe, since I am a lazy cook, I just dumped raw pork butt and pork spare ribs in the crock pot together with what would have been the ingredients of lechon sauce. The result is "puede na" or good enough.  Nothing beats having roasted pig itself as the meat because the pork rind and any fat from it lend richness to the dish. But if you are hankering for Paksiw na Lechon in some form this will satisfy.  I was surprised my picky taster, my husband, who is an American, said it was good except for the sweet taste. Come to think of it this is a dish I can serve to non Filipino friends.  It has a universal appeal. Who knew!

Slow Cooker Pork in Lechon Sauce or Paksiw na Lechon

• 3 lb pork butt, cut into pieces or country style spare ribs or use both, Note 1
• 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 8 oz liver spread from a can, Note 2
• 1 cup vinegar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 -2 tbsp soy sauce or to taste
• 1 tbsp whole peppercorn
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chicken bouillon
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker (see note 3).  Cook for 4 hours at high setting or 8 hours at low. I cooked mine in an Aroma Brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 3 hours at slow cooker setting. Cut the whole pork butt if using to bite sized pieces.  Serve over rice.

Notes:

1.  You can use left over lechon or roasted pig.

2.  You can use left over lechon sauce or store bought Mang Tomas Sauce from the Asian store.

3.  You can saute first the raw pork with the garlic and onions in oil if you have time and motivation.