Our Quest to find the best Lechon Belly online!

The task on hand was to order Lechon Belly for the wife and that it open the flood gates of memories that would bring back her yesteryears… hahaha sorry, too over dramatic! But that is what this order did for us! It had the right crunch and taste that made it such a treat!

Finding CEBU LECHON in Manila is a challenge! Try this out and let us know what you think about it!

Parameter set in Choosing what to order

We decided that It might be best to order food from FB, yes Facebook.. why, because we wanted to get the visual appeal or presentation before we decided to try out the food. (more on that in a different post).

Whole Lechon, Cochinillo, Lechon Belly Rolls

Digging deeper into the quest of the lechon led us to interesting facts, people sell lechon in 3 ways, Whole Lechon, Cochinillo and the more affordable Lechon Belly Rolls. The main difference is size, the whole lechon is mainly used for big parties or gatherings, the Cochinillo is used for smaller gathers like family parties, The Lechon Belly on the other hand opens up a whole new home experience of dining at home with good food, without having to worry where to store left overs, it just gets eaten up in 1 go!

Lechon VS Crispy Lechon Belly Rolls

Lechon can be sold by the kilo and thats what they do in La Loma, The Lechon Capital of the Philippines! So what makes the Lechon Belly more delicious? It’s probably the control and mix of ingredients and HEAT.. why? because the Lechon Belly can be put it the best ovens, smart ovens that can make a big difference in overall cooking.

Whole Lechon is spiced from the inside and salt is rubbed on the skin.. but imagine making sure that the flavor is evened out on the body of the roasted pig while you are roasting it. The option of the lechon belly gives you a more controlled environment in terms of spreading the herbs and spices evenly and the bonus is you are able to control the temperature at every stage to give you that even cooking for that perfect crunchy feel all the time!

Local Roast Pork Belly VS Porchetta

Porcheta is pang sosyal! hahaha jk, Porchetta, also known as porchetta al forno, is an Italian roast pork delicacy. It is made from a whole, pickled and salted pig’s loin, traditionally roasted on a vertical spit. Ingredients include fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley, dill leaves, garlic.

Local Roast Pork Belly or LECHON is suckling pig that has been roasted whole, most often over charcoal, in a pit and made with Lemon Grass leaves also called Tanglad.

Tanglad as the Secret of Lechon’s rich deep flavor

Lemon grass is a tropical plant that is commonly used for cooking. It is a perennial herb, and the stem is dried and used as wood to make furniture, musical instruments, and containers. The tender stalks are eaten in Asian cuisine, and this case makes a great addition to the seasoning of the LECHON.

NOT ALL LECHON ARE CREATED EQUAL

Our Criteria in choosing Lechon food delivery

Why is this a concern? We are still in the pandemic and the choices you make can make a big impact in how you enjoy your food. Think of packaging, if the Item delivered isn’t secured well, it can be contaminated, it can attract creatures that may want to steal your food just because of the look or smell of it.. and I’m not just talking about the rodents or the neighbors!

Food Safety – Food Prep standards
Food Packaging – Food packaging for the long ride
Food Quality – Get what you pay for..
Quick Delivery – Schedule delivery and on time
Price – Reasonable and not overpriced
Photo presentation – Decent clear photos that show real food
Flavor – I’m sure you have ordered flavorless food online
Sauce – If you have sauce included, then your lechon must be bland

What made this Lechon order unique?

It came CHONRICE, So what is CHONRICE? it is rice cooked in the rich flavored drippings of the Lechon Belly, can you imagine the sizzling oil mixed into your rice? Sauce pa lang ulam na! The rich flavor and aroma of the rice helps you feel your food and not just bite into it.. literally bringing back growing up and eating lechon from Iligan, CDO and Cebu.. more on our other lechon discoveries soon!

best lechon belly — One of the Best Lechon Belly orders we have tried!

Safety Seal and Proof of Delivery

The little details that make a huge difference, especially that wax seal to show if your food delivery is fresh and gets to you secure. Delivered food in foil and stashed into a box just doesnt cut it.. You can see that there is preparation and some amor goes into getting the food to your tummy!

The Story that needs Telling – Amalia’s Food MNL Story

Amalia’s Food MNL started due to the encouragement of family & friends.

It was a dream to have a food business. Pre-pandemic I was a weekend cook / holiday cook, because I had a regular job. Then pandemic & retirement happened, I was able to cook more than just weekends. Growing up in Cebu & Dumaguete developed my love for lechon – it’s where any occasion must have lechon. Since it is expensive in Manila, this challenged me to make the best homemade lechon. I experimented, my family and friends were the taste testers. After almost 2 years of continuous testing, my family & friends kept prodding me to sell it & so I did. Our CHON goes through the slow roasting process with a total of 7 to 8 hours cooking time. Flavors are very Filipino, lemongrass, garlic, etc. No sauce! It comes with CHONRICE instead. Chonrice is cooked in CHONJUICE. Almost all our clients go crazy over our Chonrice.

After Chon I experimented on noodles because after lechon, my 2nd love is noodles. I didn’t want it to be like any other pancit guisado – I made my own recipe. The flavors of our SONG NOODLES are very familiar to the Asian / Filipino palette that’s why it became an instant hit to family, friends & now clients …

I launched Amalia’s in November 2021 & so far I am happy that word has gotten around somehow, not quite there yet but thenumbers are encouring. I will develop more recipes for Amalia’s, our clients can expect more exciting flavors from us in 2022!