New mobile number

Please be advised that our new Smart mobile number is 09205445297. Our wireless PLDT landline is still the same---7032133. Thank you.

We Are Now Open at SM North Edsa Foodcourt

Guys! Please visit us at SM North Edsa Foodcourt. Try our mouth-watering Cebu lechon and our very famous Cebu danggit, Cebu chorizo and the very tasty danggit fish bones (highly recommended) We also have fish tocino---very yummy.

Call us at 7032133 or thru Smart mobile 0908-3237727 for any questions or orders.

How to Avoid your Lechon Skin from Getting Leathery

Part of the fun in eating lechon Cebu is its crisp skin. However, no matter how hard you try to prevent its skin from softening, certain reasons make this happen. You may hire the best lechonero but if you choose the wrong pig and commit the following mistakes written below, be ready to eat lechon skin with texture that will really frustrate you.

1. Wrong choice of pig. If you are planning to order small sized lechon, it is really advisable to get native pigs as their skin is thicker which allows to stand longer shelf life once grilled. Remember that the smaller the pig, the greater chances that the skin isn't perfect. It is easy to spot a good pig suited for grilling. Just check the pig's butt area if it's round, and the spinal bone should not be visible. The pig's body hair should also be thick and longer--this is how you will know if the pig's skin is thick or not.

2. Constant brushing of the lechon body while grilling. Cebu lechon normally has several herbs and spices added to the pig's belly to achieve that elusive Cebu lechon taste. However, while grilling, these ingredients will naturally spill over the pig's body. It is a must that the one in charge of grilling should brush the said drippings from time to time using his own kind of brush (most lechonero uses only a typical floor mop which is used solely for lechon). The saltier the solution or ingredients, the higher the chances of a soggy skin once brushing is not done.

3. Undercooked lechon. A lechon de leche with a live weight of 10-12 kilos is normally grilled for 1hr and 15mins, while small sized lechon with 16-18 kilos live weight is done for 1.5 hours on the average. Grilling lechon below the minimum humber of hours may also result to a leathery lechon skin.

4. Trapped steam. During peak season, most lechon companies get humongous orders and to keep up, they tend to pack the newly grilled lechon right away even if it is still steaming hot. All precautions stated above are useless if you commit this horrible mistake. It is advisable that once the bamboo is removed from the lechon's body, allow the steam to cool down for 10-15mins before you ask the sales person to wrap it. If you don't have the luxury of time, just make sure that even if you pack the lechon right away, the lechon's butt area is open and free from any packaging wrapper, as steam normally comes out from that side. And make sure that the car's back compartment is semi open if you decide to put your lechon there.

5. Aircon vent. Once the lechon is already in your house, make sure that the aircon vent or even electric fan is not in direct position to your lechon. Aircon's cool tempreture makes any lechon oily and its skin soggy. More so if you place the vents directly to your lechon.

Basically, all reasons above constitute the factors why people still get soft lechon skin despite the necessary precautions. However, if you experience this, you can do 3 things: eat it still, cut and fry the skin under low fire, or convert it into lechon paksiw. Which ever, you are guaranteed of a tasty lechon meat that is good enough even without the skin--that is if your lechon is MANONG'S TASTY LECHON CEBU.

Native Pig vs. White Pig

I always get inquiries regarding the BIG difference between ordering native pigs or white pigs for their lechon. People have this pre occupied notion that native pigs are better than white ones. Not necessarily.

One thing good about native pigs is that if you order small sized lechon, say de leche, it is always advisable to order native hogs since its skin would still be crispy even after five hours. However, native pigs are hard to find sometimes and may cost you more also. Another downside of using native pig is that it tends to be very oily most specially if you use the large sizes.

For white pigs however, so long as you eat your small sized lechon within the next 3 hours, you will be assured that the skin is still crispy. If not, around 40% of its skin would start to sag. If this happens, I suggest that you cut the skin and fry it using slow fire--no need to put any additional seasonings--this procedure would give you the same crispiness of a newly grilled lechon.

Basically, the difference between native and white pigs all boil down to one thing---skin. The meat however, tastes the same whether you choose any of the two.

Last Christmas season (2008) when prices of pigs sky rocketed, we tried our best not to increase our prices. We only made a separate price list for native pig orders.

It's your choice. Native pigs: crispy skin for an additional cost (but could be too fatty for big sized orders) or, white pigs for more affordable price but should be eaten right away. The point is, as long as it is Cebu lechon--and Manong's Tasty Lechon Cebu at that--you will be treated to a gastronomical fair that is really worth experiencing. Treat yourself, call us at 7032133 NOW!!

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A Fistful of Salt

Having been accustomed to the stiff competition among lechon businesses in Metro Cebu, I was trained to always be on my toes for whatever new developments my competitors are concocting. Though most of them are my friends, when it comes to business we have this healthy competition where we try to outdo one another--from ingredients, presentation, and down to customer service. Our business did have a good chunk of the market: locals, from neighboring provinces, from Metro Manila and even abroad.

But now that I am here in Metro Manila, the business climate is different from what I have been used to; here, it's about the authenticity of our recipe on top of penetrating the market.

Being a newbie in the metro gave me a new challenge to prove to our clients that we are a legitimate company and that we are indeed Cebuanos offering real Cebu lechon. Some clients would even ask us to speak in vernacular just to prove our claim. We do take that in stride though since we know that a new player in the market has to work double hard to make his company reliable and credible to the public.

Presently, we have a tie-up with one La Loma lechon house to grill our lechon for a fee. That lechon house is one of the top 5 biggest lechon companies in the area. They have a big and clean slaughter house which gets a regular visit from the Department of Health, since each meat is duly inspected for the protection of the consumers.

For each order, we at Manong's Tasty Lechon Cebu would meticulously go to Divisoria daily (without fail) around 8PM to catch the first arrival of ingredients from several sources coming from different provinces.

We then prepare the bought ingredients and make sure that correct proportions are made since a slight deviation would greatly affect the taste of a Cebu lechon. We then pack the prepared ingredients in color coded containers depending on the size of the order. Each order would take us an average of 40 mins to prepare the ingredients alone since we make sure that all ingredients are properly washed and are free from any unwanted elements.

In contrast, for companies selling regular lechon such as those in La Loma, they need not go through all the trouble that we have to go through. Their recipes are just simple and basic; just with some seasonings that even the butchers and helpers know about.

Many lechon houses would claim that their ingredients are well thought of. But I always question this since their ingredients are composed only of salt, MSG and bits and pieces of pepper corn and garlic. But I have to admit though that this is slightly better than some companies who just use nothing but plain salt to jazz up their lechon. Now I know why most lechon in Metro Manila needs sauce. This is to compensate for the lack of taste of an almost "unflavored" regular lechon.

There was one time when I saw one of the butchers there grab just a fistful of salt and rubbed it on the pig's belly and did nothing else to flavor it. This was clearly a surprise since for the same size of the pig he was working on, I would have used more than just a fistful of salt in accordance to our recipe.

I then figured out that these lechon companies can make or maybe even pay people to do Cebu lechon, but they opt not to since they are already selling a lot. It amazes me that despite the current economic situation of our country, top lechon players in La Loma could still command a sale of 50 pcs of lechon on regular days and a whooping 400-1000 pcs a day during the holiday season. And if they will do Cebu lechon just like ours, they wont have the time to deal with all the intricacies involved.

A friend of mine challenged me that if my company becomes big, I might forget doing Cebu lechon and opt for the kind of ingredients which most people from La Loma are doing. I made a promise to myself though that no matter what happens, quality will never be overlooked. Quality will take me places and put me to greatness, and it's just fair that I should maintain it.

Sometimes, a fistful isn't worth your salt.

My Wedding Registry Link

To view Manong's Tasty Lechon Cebu's Gift Certificates, kindly click the logo above. My Wedding Registry is one of our tie-up websites where you can view some of our products and services. You can also view other services being featured under My Wedding Registry.