How has your Christmas day been? We have so much leftover ham and lechon from our Noche Buena and Christmas lunch. I know what to do with the lechon. I can easily cook Lechon Paksiw but there may be other ways to make use of lechon leftovers. Do you know what to do with the leftovers? Well, Chef Rolando Laudico and Sunnywood—a local rice distributor teamed up to teach you how to turn leftover food into Noche Buena-worthy dishes.
“With exciting celebrations here and there, we often forget about our leftovers,” says Chef Lau.“But with a little resourcefulness and creativity, you can ensure that nothing in the kitchen goes to waste during the holidays.”
Here are two recipes: Pork Binagoongan Wraps and Breakfast Fried Rice
Pork Binagoongan Wraps
Skip the usual Christmas hams and roast porks and opt for this local favorite instead. With its rich flavor and impressive presentation, your guests would never believe you whipped it from leftovers.
Ingredients
For the Rice
¼ cup olive oil (or any oil)
500g pork liempo (small cubed) ( You can use lechon leftover here)
salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup white onion (small diced)
2 tbsp garlic (minced)
1 tbsp ginger (minced)
1 tbsp lemongrass (minced, optional)
½ cup carrots (small diced)
4 tbsp (more to taste) bagoongalamang
1 cup tomatoes (diced)
½ cup sitaw or string beans (small diced)
4 cups Harvester’s Dinorado Rice (cooked)
8-10 pcs petchay leaves (big, blanched)
For the Garnish
2 tbsp green mangoes (thin strips, optional)
2 tbsp carrots (thin strips, optional)
1 tbsp green onions (chopped, optional)
Procedure
- Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a sauce pan to medium high heat and brown pork on all sides. Add onions, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add bagoong and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes more. Lastly add string beans. Add cooked Harvester’s Dinorado Rice and stir-fry for 5 minutes until all ingredients are mixed well. Wrap in blanched petchay like a spring roll or lumpia tied with carrot strings (optional) Garnished with green mangoes and green onions.
- To blanch petchay: Boil salted water and cook petchay leaves for 10 seconds and immediately transfer to ice water to stop the cooking, drain then pat dry with cloth or paper towel.
Breakfast Fried Rice
Welcome Christmas morning with this easy-to-cook take on the popular sinangag. Another huge plus of this recipe is that it only takes a couple minutes to prepare.
Ingredients
For the Fried Rice
¼ cup olive oil (or any oil)
½ cup leftover ham or bacon (medium dice)
1 cup chorizo or longanisa (medium dice)
4 tbsp garlic (minced)
1 cup onions (chopped)
1 whole egg (beaten)
4 cups Harvester’s Long Grain Rice (cooked)
salt and pepper to taste
For the Garnish
2 tbsp green onions (chopped fine, optional)
1 salted egg (slice rounds)
2 pcs tomatoes (sliced thin)
Procedure
- Heat oil in a pan and cook meat until brown. Add garlic and onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add egg and cook until it becomes scrambled, add rice and mix well.
- Garnish Harvester’s long grain rice with salted egg, tomatoes and green onions.
For Chef Lau and Sunnywood, every Christmas needs to be memorable.
He concludes, “Most Filipinos have a pre-set menu for the yuletide season but there are many ways to add an extra punch to our menu—and sometimes the secret lies in the ingredients we didn’t expect to use.”