Easy Filipino Fiesta with Lechoneria Belly PH

When my husband and I got married, we came from really different background. He is half European, but grew up mostly in the USA, Russia and the UK. I was a true blue island girl who surfed every other weekends & came from Mindanao.

So when it came to Christmas traditions we were very different. He grew up on turkey or duck & lamb chops for Christmas. While a Mindanaoan Christmas for me was Lechon or roast suckling pig. But with Lechon in Iligan so good, it was easy enough to convert him.

UNBOXING & FAMILY’S REACTION

Watch the video for this unforgettable unboxing, to hear the crunch & see my diplofamily’s reaction! My MIL who is Spanish really loved it! She said nothing has compared in years!

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LECHON BELLY

I’ve been missing Iligan Lechon for a while now so I’m thrilled that I found Lechoneria Belly Ph because they do their Lechon belly Mindanao-style, or stuffed chock full of lemongrass! In fact, I’ve never seen so much lemongrass in Lechon in my life! This is the full 4kg slab that’s good for 20-25pax.

CONDIMENTS

The best part it comes with some really yummy versions of Filipino favorites, complete with condiments like really yummy sweet & garlicky vinegar & atchara (pickled grated unripe papaya) that perfectly balanced out the Lechon’s rich taste!

Lots of Calamansi (local lime) for the Pancit Dagat (seafood rice noodles) and Lechon Sisig. Very good Bagoong (fermented krill/shrimp paste) for the Kare-Kare

LECHON BELLY SISIG

It’s my first time to have lechon sisig. I personally prefer crunchy Sisig, so we refried these, drained the oil & they were a glorious crunchy mess! YUM!

BULALO SINIGANG

Another first for me, this combines the best of super tender beef Bulalo (beef shanks and bone marrow) with the sour yumminess of Sinigang. One of the best Sinigangs I’ve tried, because I also love Bulalo!

PANCIT DAGAT

This has to be the most generous seafood Pancit (rice noodles) I’ve ever had. YOu can’t even see the pancit under the seafood! Definitely a level up from other pancits I’ve tried.

LAING WITH LECHON CHUNKS

This is hands down THE BEST LAING I’VE EVER HAD. Yup. You heard me! And you can see in the comments here my wonderful food blogger friend Chichajo agrees, and that’s totally something! Laing is taro leaves cooked in thick spiced coconut milk.

KARE-KARENG BAKA

I usually like my Kare-kare (thick peanut sauce stew) with lots of vegetables & bagoong and this hit the spot! There is also lots of tripe for tripe lovers.

The cool thing is they have sets for 2-4 pax and signature sets for 1 which is very generous & priced so well for the amount & quality that you are getting!

LECHONERIA TIPS

The packaging was amazing, which included tips on how to enjoy, store & reheat the lechon on the packaging itself. No unecessary papers here.

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

Lechoneria is slowly shifting to the sustainable packaging that you see here. The natural basket of Filipino Dishes came wrapped in an inabel blanket (a form of weaving in the Northern Philippines) by my favorite Abel Philippines.

In the video unboxing above, you would have seen that the spacers were all brown paperbag & tape used to seal the box & the reusable microwaveable containers were paper tape. I imagine in the future they will also shift to biodegradable starchware! Fingerscrossed!

I hope more food companies follow suit and start shifting to more sustainable packaging! It’s one less plastic that will pollute our oceans and stay behind hundreds of years after we die.