I did not anticipate the incredible response (both initial and repeat page views and comments) that the previous post asking readers to guess what was in the posted photo and how it got that way. So to put the anxious out of their misery, here is a quick post that answers the second part of the question, that NOBODY mentioned or guessed right as of a few minutes ago… :)
So many of you figured out it was pork, more specifically pork skin of some sort. Some got the fact that it was lechon skin, though many were darned certain it was lechon kawali or bagnet. And even more were convinced that this was achieved by frying it in hot oil, maybe spritzed with water somewhere along the way. I was amused but not surprised by the several guesses related to caramelized sugar as it does smack of that. And I was rolling on the floor laughing at those who were certain I was primitive enough to post a photo with a lot of charred pig hair, it was rosemary, as others figured out. Apicio’s cuchinta under a salamander gets special mention, as does budbud kabog deep fried and magnified 5x for those thinking out of the box. I appreciate Artisan Chocolatier and family keeping mum, as they were witness to the final product.
So it is “lechon” skin, not of the smooth variety, but of a Marketman experimental attempt, Lechon #4 in fact, and the key to getting it just so was pricking the skin with several large needles before it was roasted. Full post on the how’s, why’s and results coming up as soon as I manage to write it. So for now, what do you think I should call it? I loved Lee’s suggestion of “Slitchon” for the last attempt, so along that same vein, I am thinking:
Acuchon (Accupunctured Lechon)
Pinchon (Pin Lechon)
Prickchon (Pin Pricked Lechon)
Voochon (Voodoo Lechon)
But I am still open to suggestions, so let those creative minds rip!!! :)
68 Responses
MM, Acuchon for me seems the best name to call your Lechon-X! =)
I don’t know, but the name gives it a sophisticated tone, French influenced perhaps? hehehehe! Prickchon would be a nice second.
Why don’t you add another one on the list and call it…
EmEmChon — MM’s lechon
This post elicited a heartfelt sustained guffaw from me. Reminded me of a New Yorker cartoon depicting a medieval sculptor surrounded by completed gargoyles and an onlooker asking “Where do you get your ideas?â€
he he that was fun MM!I like Prickchon
hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! now tell us–it looked really crispy and delicious! was it?? drool-drool-drool
Tinchon / Sokchon / Tuschon = Tinusok na Lechon
VOOCHON!!!=P
Maybe another pig is twisting itself nearby while you’re doing this “ritual”!=D I am enticed at doing the same thing because it looks like fun.=D
MarketMan those of us who thought that it’s charred pig’s hair does not think that you’re primitive at all.=D at first glance it really does look like charred pig’s hair, the ones you get from lechon kawali in those hole-in-the-wall eateries hehehehe!=D never thought of it as rosemary, my bad hihihi!=P
Ano ba ga ang itatawag? Tinukchonboy –> Tinisuk-tusok na lilitsuning baboy. Hahhaha – from a Quezonian lady. Tagalog na tagalog yan pare. Pero sa tutuo lang, I read another Pinoy food bloog about Jolibee’s Tuna Pie, may picture pa nga eh, naku ganyan talaga ang itsura.
Ive got it: Kinuchon/ Kinutson. Catchy and easy to remember. Yun nga lang its short for Kinulam na Lechon. What a story to tell to your guests huh?
you must have had several assistants to deliver those tusoks..if you’re not careful, you’ll end up with carpal tunnel syndrome. .you may ask drs calayan and belo re mesotherapy injectors/needles..they come in multiples, so 5 to 7 tusoks in one blow…(i know, since i had mesotherapy certification…heheh)
really funny marketman. I like Acuchon. Teehee. :D
yeah! slitchon’s evil twin!
Pork Skin! and it was me who said the hair! I know your not primitive! It was too short for rosemary so i threw it in for a laugh. I dont even eat pork (yes im filipino), and this method is definitely all for the LOVE of pig! I love your love for it and your handle of care..haha
Whose idea was it to pin prick that poor pig? Are we going to see a picture of the whole pig when it was cooked? Am sure it tasted great. Had to think a bit for a catchy name to call it – How about:
ArayChon or ArayKoPoChon
Cushchon, Cuchon or Kuchon – from pin “cushion”
haha, Mystery solved!!:D my hubby was hovering around me the whole time waiting when someone would finally get it right. congrats to Banana! she deserves a jar of Mangosteen, haha :))
name it sadista’s letchon or double dead prickchon
suggestion : karachon – kinarayum na lechon
Ewww… the pic of lechon skin from the previous post looks like gazillions of white heads & pimples for me. I draw the line with pricking the skin with needles. Lechon witchcraft?? LOL
now that The Steak Lady mentioned it, i want a jar of mangosteen! hahaha puhlease. :P
banana-maybe the whole prickchon,voochon,accuchon maybe???
DESECRACHON -desecrated body of a dead lechon. My golly, pin pricked after butchering……..I know, all for the sake of high culinary sake.
Lex, omigosh, I actually like that name, but too irreverent. And actually, this is a method used often for another cut of pork… but more in the post later.
i was thinking pincuchon (pronounced pincushion)… for the pin, “cu” from accupuncture, and “chon” for well, lechon.
HAHAHAHAHAHA…sus, Ginoo, so funny! But I rather like “desecrachon”… :)
I’d like to call it the other way, “Le-pricked” (lechon-pricked)or “Le-Pierced” (lechon – pierced).:-)
MM you must be rolling in laughter by now as I am. What a great way to get an insight of the type of readers you have on your blog. he he he, we’re the best!
Accuchon sounds like Ahigaan to me…why not call it “Injekchon” hehehe, kaya lang parang nakakatakot kainin. Okay, “pinchazon” I would suggest, sounds french diba?
Voochon! =)
i really like Kinuchon, kinulam na lechon. LOL!!!
My goodness, MM, you are super OC nga! I like Lex’s desecrachon and annette’s Injekchon.
I am amazed at the lengths you would go to for a perfectly crisp skin. No wonder the blisters were even in size and color. I’m just curious how long it took you to prick the whole carcass with 2 small needles?!? Perhaps you can devise a roller similar to the ones used to dock doughs, but with small sharp needles instead. That way, you cover a swath of skin with just one roll.
My gosh, INJECKCHON got me in LOUD snorting laughter. DESECRACHON too, and it sounds like something they would eat in Noli Me Tangere. INJECKCHON sounds like a gangsta rapper.
how about Crackuchon?! Crispy, crackling lechon…LOL. Really nice skin to munch on…
does it make a difference on the taste if the pork skin is pricked before roasting the pig? i am used to seeing and eating a smooth and crunchy lechon skin. i think it does look more appetizing than a pricked skin…
MM – are you going to get a vote? Take the first 5 most suggested name, then post it again, and let the first 150 vote. And presto… another original of Mr Market Man..I myself vote for Injeckchon, it kinnda catchy. We know how its done, we feel a little icky, but we still it .. hahah typical of us Filipinos, we have the guts.
I mean we still eat it. There are other weird names out there, mostly vendor foods..so common.. lets vote.
i knew it!! i was right
Hey marketman,
I call it the triple by pass lechon.
Want a really crispy skin? Ask the Chinese, on how to cook peking duck properly. I believed what ever you doing to that dead pig is not nice, the pig is already dead, let him be cook with a bit of dignity, this one blog of yours make my stomach turn. We should not play with our food. its undignified.
prickchonary – lechon pricked and rosemaried :)
Sofia, do YOU KNOW HOW to make peking duck? Amongst other things, the dead duck is blanched in boiling water 3-6 times, then air dried naturally or with a hair dryer in between each dip in the boiling water to dry out the skin, then air is forcibly BLOWN between the skin and the fat/meat in order to create a space that will help to crisp the skin further. Often, cooks use a bicycle pump to force the air under the skin. Then it is basted in searing hot oil as well, or slow baked to achieve that classic skin everyone hopes for when they order it. As for your reaction to my pin-pricking the lechon, the idea hails from CLASSIC restaurant Chinese roast pork, of the most common variety HANGING IN NEARLY EVERY WINDOW of chinese restaurants with roast meats around the world. The way they get the roast pork to have crackling and crisp skin is to pin prick it as I have described above. I didn’t do this to be irreverent to the pig, I did it to try and achieve a particular quality to the skin, and patterned after a well-established and frequently used method. So your opinion, which I agree you are absolutely entitled to, that what I did to the pig is not nice, seems OUT OF PLACE if, you SEEM TO SUGGEST I explore how to do a peking duck properly, which would involve equally if not worse “treatment” after the duck’s slaughter. As for other preparations of duck, duck breasts are scored (tiny surface slits with a knife or sharp blade in a crisscross pattern) before searing, livers are scored too, fish are likewise scored and so is squid meat. I pound veal and pork to make paillards, use intestines forcibly stuffed with meat for sausages, boil and peel tongues before stewing them, pound beef with a spiked mallet to make bistek tagalog, so I don’t see much difference with pin-pricking the skin of a beast that was traditionally slaughtered for food, and whose every edible part was enjoyed and not wasted. Besides, if YOU EAT ANY ANIMAL PROTEIN at all, I would suggest that would qualify for being “not nice for the animal” regardless of how you choose to eat it. And as for eating vegetables and fruit, one could even argue there that they too have the equivalent of “feelings” as well, and many folks tend to eat or chew on them “alive” or uncooked…. hmmm, I better write that post-veal “what I eat” entry that I keep simmering on the back burner. Sofia, get real. I respect my food immensely. Otherwise I wouldn’t have nearly 1,800 posts on the matter. But what does get me hot and bothered are comments such as yours, posted as a FIRST TIME COMMENT TO BOOT, that apparently displays a thought process that DIDN’T REALLY THINK THINGS THROUGH. And if I had to wager a roast pig (SLITCHON, VOOCHON, INJECHON or otherwise) a la Marketman, I would BET that (regardless of whether you are a carnivore or herbivore) you probably use leather shoes, belts, handbags, wallets, jackets, etc., – the leather/hides of which were treated, steamed, pounded, stretched, soaked in harsh chemicals and dyed against their will and cut into bizarre shapes to make those same items. They were also probably sewn with nearly identical needles to the one I used on the lechon. Worse, if of a lesser quality, they were then probably machine sewn, rather than by hand. Then the items are subjected to the vagaries of the weather – rain, sleet, snow and mud. Laid on floors, tables and chairs rife with bacteria and dust and dirt. Get moist and smelly with foot odors and an occasional athletes foot. Are even used as whips by hired madams to smack others in places I can only guess. In the case of men’s wallets, stuffed into dark, dank and musty locations right near one’s rear end or anterior nether region. Or used to hold up your trousers practically or decoratively. Get embossed or stamped with brand-name logos. And I could go on and on. Oh and I forgot, do you know how the cow that provided those leathers/hides was probably stunned and slaughtered? I do. So think about all of THAT before you criticize me for “playing with my food.” And IF, you have ever eaten a HOTDOG in your entire life, do a little bit of research as to how much of its component “meat” was extracted from the bones of the animal it used to be attached to, and HOW IT WAS EXTRACTED, as PERHAPS THAT should really make your stomach turn…
accupunc-chon,perhaps?
Sofia’s identification with a dead animal’s carcass is called pathetic fallacy in literacy criticism. It’s quite pathetic.
Apicio, thank goodness I am not the only one who thought that was a low blow. For all the original suggestions, I am grateful and as usual, amazed by the creativity of readers! thelma, the pricking and impact on texture and taste, up in next post. chrisb, about 15 minutes with four people holding two needles each. Yes, if this becomes a house favorite, I will devise a patentable device with 50 needles on a rolling pin. But actually, I felt I wanted to do this by hand the first time around to get just the right depth of pin pricks.
And Sofia…..do you know where air is forcibly blown into to separate the skin from the meat in peking duck?
Wheww… that was something! Is it hot in here or it’s just the INJECKCHON being roasted?!?
Ei MM all the cholesterol are showing na it’s results on you…mabilis ka na ma high blood… :-)
Take it easy…it’s just a comment.. probably wanting to show off and yeah maybe didnt think twice before commenting… we know naman that all the post here are in good intention.
nice one annette..INJECKCHON…good thinking!
enteng, actually, I have unbelievably low blood pressure… but high cholesterol. :)
MM….I wonder if sofia knows what they do to the duck or goose to make foie gras
Who cares what you called it – how did it taste?
Oh my, maybe I’ve come at a bad time. This will teach me to read the comments AFTER I post.
I can’t see why someone would think it’s OK to slaughter an animal but not to pierce the fat … that’s just bizarre.
Actually, I changed my mind. I’m ignoring Sofia. Tell me how it tasted?
I tried to roast cochinillo once (is that the same? suckling pig). Everyone loved it except me. I’ll have to write it down one day.
does the name have to be a combination of different terms? how about a long one? Kinarayum na Lechon.
and, MM, chiillll….sofia did not think before posting. i remember either reading it or from a television show…dying is dying, there is no dignity in it. you’re dead. that’s it.
grabe ang tiyaga naman ng pagkarayum sa lechon, hehehe. what’s next for this lechon chronicles? hehe
you are such a tease!!! please, tell us soonest how it tasted.
and lets vote on the name as suggested by EbbaMyra. this is fun. thanks MM
Sandali lang po…wag masyadong mag-init sa comment ni Madamme Sofia, baka naman yong “a bit dignity” na sinasabi nya is a new “herb” or “sauce”. Let’s ask her, maybe she can tell us where to buy dignity? Hahaha…joke lang ha! Ang pikon talo!
Seryoso talaga kayo sa “INJEKCHON”?
I ain’t callin that lechon. But “Pinchon” or “Injeckshon” sounds about right. Maybe “Accupunchon” too, hehe.
I can’t wait for the more detailed post on this!
Yeah, Sofia sounds like a PETArd.
in my opinion, sofia’s comment was born out of ignorance; but that’s not an excuse. so her m.o. is go to a chinese restaurant, pluck down $40 or whatever, then in her mind the
fowl was treated with dignity…then probably left a $2 tip.
her comment was short, less than a hundred words; would have been better if she ranted and vented and spewed a thousand words and gave a big piece of her mind. considering the source, i think that would have been comical…we’ll have laughter here…then…pity. it’s been said “even the dull and the ignorant, they too have their own story”, “ignorance is bliss”. yeah, i can buy that. but an ignorant being judgmental, that’s a load of…special characters.
sorry i ranted and vented. it’s just my opinion.
now, why am i here? for the fun that we’re having:
veni,vidi,vici. voochon!
Masyadong mainit yata dito— ang saya ng INJECKCHON!
But VOOChon is so Gay!!!
LePakchon = Lechon na may chickenpox hehehe
I like Injeckchon or perhaps Inkjetchon heehee
Dignity? Is she serious?
Dear Marketman,
I am so sorry for making you feel this way and thank you for giving me such wonderful knowledge about how animals and animal products have to go through so we can have food and things in life. I am stupid to post the comments I’ve wrote but at the time of reading your post I thought that was appropriate to say. I am deeply sorry and please accept my apology.I do find your post educational
sofia, apology appreciated and accepted.
Kulchon – Kinulam na lechon. Comes in King, queen, double and twin.
… and there was peace ever after!
INJEKCHON ROCKS!
Ha ha ha ha! Peace be with you all!
You are sneaky.
A “pizza dough docker” had come to mind when I posted my guess.
But I had thought that was a crazy thing to do, and did not think your quest to create the most “Perfect Lechon in the Entire Galaxy” experiments would go that far. Apparently I am wrong in that thinking. :)
You could use a sharpened pizza docker to save yourself some time when poking holes. The guage would not be as fine as a sewing needle, but it would be uniform and a task carried out much quicker.
I said hair as well, because it looked to short for rosemarry. And the charred pigs hair is what makes it good. you know that you are getting a pig and not something else. so there :P
Sorry, I don’t have a suggestion, but this is just too funny! Desecrachon, pincuchon, prickchonary … Laughing all by myself!