Lechon Manok sa Kawali

Lechon manok sa kawali or pan roasted whole chicken is Smokey and roasty and is prepared by slowly cooking the whole chicken with soy sauce , oyster sauce, lemon juice, sugar, pepper, bay leaves, ginger, garlic, onion, lemon garlic and spring onion. As the chicken is prepared whole, the lechon manok is best to serve in celebrations and can be placed at the center of your table. If you want to make your celebrations hassle free, preparing a lechon manok sa kawali is the way to go. Yum!

Lechon Manok sa Kawali Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo whole chicken
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 pieces bay leaves
• 1 thumb sized ginger (pounded)
• 6 cloves of garlic (pounded)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 stalk lemon grass
• 1 bunch spring onions
• 1 piece star anise (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the whole chicken. Make sure to clean its cavity. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Fold the spring onions and lemon grass. Gently insert them in the chicken’s cavity.
2.  On a separate bowl, combine the soy sauce, lemon juice, oyster sauce, pounded ginger, onion, garlic, sugar, black pepper, star anise and dry bay leaves.
3. Place the chicken in a deep bowl or in a zip lock bag. Add the marinade and massage it well using your hands. Let this marinate for at least 2 hours. Flip the chicken once in a while to marinate all the sides evenly.
4. Heat some oil in a pan. Sear the marinated chicken for a few minutes until the skin has browned and caramelized. Flip the other side to sear it. Add the reserved marinade and pour a lot of water to help the chicken cook fully. Cover the pot and let this simmer for 25 minutes using medium heat.
5. After 25 minutes, flip the chicken and then simmer again for 25 to 30 minutes until the sauce is reduced. Flip the chicken  few more times until the sauce becomes thicker. Baste the chicken with the sauce for a few minutes. Continue basting the chicken until all sides achieve that golden lechon color. Turn the heat off.
6. Transfer the lechong manok sa kawali to a serving plate. Slice them into serving portions or serve this whole. Enjoy this with a lot of hot steaming rice with your favorite dipping sauce on the side. Yum!

What is Lechon?

When you search the word “lechon” in Google, the website will immediately show you a picture of a slow-roasted suckling pig. Truthfully speaking, the word “lechon” is derived from the spanish term of a suckling pig. In the Philippines, the “lechon” is more commonly associated with a large pig rather than a small one. As time goes by, the term lechon is sometimes used interchangeable with the word “grilling” which is the cooking process for the pig.

Aside from the pig, the term lechon is now used for other slow-grilled items like lechong manok (chicken) and lechon baka (cow). The lechon manok became more famous because it is smaller and are usually available from restaurants.

The recipe featured in this article is an adaptation of the lechon but made in a pan instead of a griller.

Lechon Manok sa Kawali

Nothing feels better than being that one proud stage tita while watching your niece won her very first spelling bee contest. I remember us spending a lot of hours practicing how to spell different words which I actually did not know exists in the first place.

Fun Fact: Did you know that the longest word you can find in a dictionary is: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis? I just knew it during our practice sessions!

As we go for gold, I made sure to prepare all the golden things as she got home. I had his tito come over to join her to the mall as I prepare her table. I gathered the golden chocolate coins, golden egg fried rice, golden pork lumpia, golden honey-glazed bananas and of course, her favorite golden lechon manok which I made using just a pan. (It might look more roasty and not golden if I cooked it in the griller!)

If you wanna know how to make lechon manok sa kawali at home, read and follow the easy steps below. Happy cooking!

How to Cook Lechon Manok sa Kawali

Preparing some lechon manok sa kawali is way easier than the smoked grilled version. As this recipe still uses a whole chicken, it may take quite a few time for the chicken to fully cook, but the recipe will guarantee you that you won’t smell like usok after many hours of cooking.

The first step would be choosing the chicken. While the best chickens are those which are freshly slaughtered, the one which will be the easiest to prepare are the dressed chicken as they are already cleaned and gutted. Both groceries and wet markets have dressed chicken at all times. If you want to serve this lechon manok for a specific occasion, it is a great idea to grab a large chicken to make this the center of your table.

The technique to ensure the flavor all throughout a large chunk of meat is by marinating it. But aside from just marination, lechon recipes uses extra seasonings to put in the cavity to make sure that all the flavors will be distributed inside and out. For this recipe, I used pounded spring onions and lemon grass and placed them inside the chicken’s cavity. For some quick marination, a quick concoction of soy sauce, lemon juice, oyster sauce, pounded ginger, onion, garlic, sugar, black pepper, star anise and dry bay leaves will already do the magic. You can also used pre-mixed marinating mix if you like. I usually make the marinade sweet, because my niece likes it sweet, just like the sweet roast of chooks to go.

To cook the chicken, sear it first in some hot oil. Searing adds flavor to the dish and also distributes some of the flavors in the oil. During this process, the goal is to make the skin brown. This may take you a few minutes as you need to roll the chicken a lot of times to ensure that all sides will be browned. Some people like to pour some hot oil over the chicken to make the skin crisp. You can also try that hack.

After searing, pour the marinade in the pan. Now starts the waiting game. You may need to flip the chicken a few times to cook all sides evenly and to distribute the flavors from the marinade. Also, baste the chicken from time to time including the cavity with the spring onions and lemon grass. It may take around 25 minutes of flipping and basting before you achieve that roasted golden lechon color. Since we are dealing with a whole chicken, it is recommended to use a kitchen thermometer to check if the internal temperature of chicken is achieved.

Grab your large serving plate and place the chicken in it. You may serve this whole or chopped. Make papak or enjoy this as it is. Yummy!

Lechon Manok sa Kawali Recipe in Tagalog

Mga Sangkap:

• 1 kilo buong manok
• 1/2 tasang toyo
• 1 kutsarang oyster sauce
• 1/3 tasang lemon juice
• 2 kutsarang asukal na pula
• 1/2 kutsaritang paminta
• 2 pirasong dahon ng laurel
• 1 luya (tinadtad)
• 6 butil ng bawang (tinadtad)
• 1 sibuyas  (hiniwa)
• 1 tali lemon grass
• 1 spring onions
• 1 pirasong star anise (optional)

Paano Lutuin:

1. Linisin at hugasan ang buong manok. Siguraduhing malinis ang tiyan nito. Ilagay ang manok sa isang bowl. Ilagay ang spring onions at lemon grass sa loob ng manok.
2. Paghaluin ang toyo, lemon juice, oyster sauce, luya, sibuyas, bawang, asukal, paminta, star anise at dahon ng laurel sa isang bowl.
3. Ilagay ang manok sa malalim na bowl o sa zip lock bag. Ibuhos ang ginawang marinade at imassage ito sa manok para manuot ang lasa. Imarinate ito ng 2 oras o mas matagal. Baliktarin ang manok paminsan minsan para malagyan ng marinate ang lahat ng parts nito.
4. Magpainit ng mantika sa kawali. Iprito ang manok ng ilang minuto hanggang mag brown ang balat nito. Baliktarin ang manok ng ilang beses para maluto ang ibang parts nito. Ibuhos ang natitirang marinade sa kawali at dagdagan ng tubig para maluto ang manok. Takpan ang kawali at hayaan ito ng 25 minuto gamit ang katamtamang apoy.
5. Pagkatapos ng 25 minuto, baliktarin ang manok at lutuin ulit ng 25 – 30 minuto hanggang maiga ang sauce. Ituloy ang pagbabaliktad ng manok hanggang lumapot ang sauce at maging golden brown ang kulay ng balat ng manok. Patayin ang apoy.
6. Ilipat ang lechong manok sa serving plate. Hiwain ito sa serving portions o ihain ng buo. Samahan ito ng mainit na kanin kasama ng iyong favorite sawsawan. Yum!