Lechon Manok

Stop me if you've heard this one. A man, impressed by Neiman Marcus's chocolate chip cookies, buys the recipe from a waitress who tells him it costs "two fifty". He adds it to his tab and is shocked to be billed $250 instead of the $2.50 he thought it would cost. In anger, he forwards the recipe via e-mail to everyone he knows. Of course, that's an urban legend that has since been debunked (although the people who did try the recipe claimed it was pretty good).

This recipe for lechon manok has similar dubious online origins; the site I got it from got it from another site, which got it from another site. Still, I had the strongest craving for Andok's lechon manok (roast chicken) when I saw this recipe, so I had to try it. The chicken came out surprisingly tender, hitting slightly sweet, sour and savory flavor notes. Don't be alarmed by the short marinating time; the flavor really does seep into the meat and marinating it for more than a few hours will just make the flavor overpowering. Go ahead and pair it with Mang Tomas and catsup.

And my Andok's lechon craving? That's all behind me. I'm a big girl and I make my own lechon manok now. (But could you pass me some of their liempo?)

Recipe after the jump!

Because everything tastes better with more garlic.

Lechon Manok

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 head garlic, minced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of calamansi (Panama orange) juice or lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of Sprite, 7 Up or beer (I once substituted Mountain Dew and it turned out fine!)
• 2 cups of tanglad (lemongrass) for stuffing
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Marinate the whole chicken in soy sauce, calamansi juice, minced garlic, chopped onions, soda or beer, sugar and pepper.
2. Let stand in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.
3. Stuff the chicken cavity with tanglad.
4. Cook chicken on grill or in oven until golden brown. 

(Note: I preheated my oven to 350 F and roasted it for 1 1/2hr. Baking time will vary depending on the make of your oven and the size of the chicken so be sure to check often.)