Kitchen
8 Easy Christmas Leftovers Recipes Beyond Lechong Paksiw
With all the Christmas parties happening, here are some ideas and recipes on how to use Christmas party leftovers.
Every Christmas party has its leftovers, the most common one being Lechon. While Filipinos are known to throw big fiestas and anticipate the whole barangay to attend, some either don’t show or don’t eat as much as they used to. Others have dietary restrictions that require them to eat less rich food. With the Christmas leftovers piling up in the fridge, here are some easy recipes you can do so they don’t go to waste.
1. Lechong Pansit
The best part about this recipe is how instant the other ingredients are. Commonly, Lechong Manila has a lot of fat which if melted serves as oil to sautée the garlic and onion. No need for fresh ones—even the powder will do! Noodles are easy to cook within a good 5-7 minutes depending on the brand. Melt the fat off the Lechon and stir-fry the noodles. You can add the leftover chopsuey for some extra fiber and voila, Lechong Pansit! Don’t forget to add the leftover soy sauce for some flavor.
To make it spicy, you can sautée the dried chili flakes or leftover chili garlic as well. Add a bit of calamansi to reduce the fattiness even further.
2. Lechon Salad
This recipe requires us to revive everyone’s favorite part of the Lechon (if there is any leftovers from the Christmas party): the skin. Toast the Lechon in the pan until crispy and then wipe off the oil. Grab some greens and don’t forget to mix it up! Some romaine, iceberg, fresh basil, and even watercress before making a calamansi vinaigrette (which is just olive oil and calamansi) dressing to add with the grapes. For that extra protein, you can add some boiled eggs, too.
For reference on how to make a vinaigrette, you can check the ratios here.
3. Prawn Stock
Prawn heads are usually just thrown in the trash but this is one of the tastiest parts among the Christmas leftovers. Using the fat and essence of the prawn, you can make stock — a common base for soups and sauces. Take the heads of the grilled prawns and boil them with whole cloves of garlic, ginger, salt, and whole black peppercorns in water. But if you wish, the remaining lime-flavored soda like Sprite or 7-Up can serve as a soup base that can enhance the flavors of your other meals. This stock is perfect if your kids recently developed an addiction to Laksa.
4. Garlic Bread
Garlic bread is the perfect solution against munchies. Just take the leftover lemon butter sauce that usually comes with the seafood and slather it on any kind of bread. Toast it on a pan for a good 5 minutes or until golden brown and you’re done. For extra flavor, dust some Italian seasoning or some dried herbs onto the bread.
5. Minestrone
One of the most common leftovers found at Christmas parties is vegetables, particularly buttered corn and carrots. Sautée the buttered corn and carrots, garlic, onion, and some additional beans with fresh tomatoes. Once the tomatoes become pasty enough, add some of the leftover red wine and even salsa from the nachos to serve as your soup base. Using salsa as a base for cheap Minestrone soup gives it that nice kick for a spicy soup on a cold day.
6. Twice-Cooked adobo
For those who have roasted chicken for leftovers, twice-cooked adobo is also within the scope of Christmas leftovers. Shred the remaining chicken parts before throwing them into a pan with some soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, and onion. What some even do is take a bit of flour and massage it into the chicken parts so it comes out extra crispy.
7. Butter Garlic Rice
Fried rice is best made with leftover rice and using the butter garlic from our leftover Boodle fight adds that extra flavor. Some people even use the remaining roast beef and melt the fat off to flavor the rice, creating Salpicao Rice. All it needs after is some Worchestershire Sauce and the typical garlic and onion. Feel free to add some mushrooms!
8. Sisig Lettuce Wraps
We’re probably avoiding all the carbs to force our bodies to burn the fat from the food we ate so, lettuce wraps will be an essential part of our meals for the next week or so. Sisig, being one of the most common party trays at Christmas parties, will most likely have the most leftovers since it’ll be competing with the Lechon for the best pork dish. For this Christmas leftover dish, all you have to do is heat the sisig until crispy and then put it on lettuce. It’s a Filipino adaptation of the Chinese minced duck with lettuce recipe. For the sauce, you can add vinaigrette, Lechon sauce, or even salsa.
So many recipes beyond Lechon Paksiw for Christmas leftovers!
Lechon Paksiw is one of the easiest and most common recipes for Christmas leftovers. But at some point, the whole family might feel “porked-out.” With pork being the most beloved ulam in the Philippines, finding ways to make use of it can be a bit of a challenge especially if we indulged a bit too much the night before or the family is just not into pork. At least for these Christmas leftover recipes, it’s something new and easy to do. Enjoy!
More recipes the whole family can try:
Kid-Friendly Pinoy Fish Recipes Beyond Escabeche
6 Easy Recipes To Get Kids To Eat Vegetables
8 Kid-Friendly Pasta Recipes That Aren’t Carbonara or Bolognese
