Press Kit

PRITCHON™...
The lechon reinvented!

By Lai Suarez-Reyes
Manila Bulletin - Sunday Leisure
May 12, 20002

The fiesta month of May has started and needles to say, a fiesta is not a fiesta without lechon. For most Filipinos, the lechon is highlight of every buffet and every occasion. Unfortunately, once the crispy skin of lechon has been devoured, most people turn their backs on the oily oinker, and leave everything to "Mang Tomas." (Well, you guessed it… for lechon paksiw.)

An enterprising couple has come up with a recipe that guarantees that lechon gets eaten to the bone. Charlie and Dina Esguerra thought of reinventing the lechon while stuck in traffic in Makati back in 1999.

" During that time, we were thinking of ways on how to augment the family income because we were forced to close our garments factory after our workers went on strike," Charlie recalls.

Charlie toyed with the idea of frying a whole piglet instead of roasting it " para maiba." This paved the way for " Prithon™" or simple, pritong lechon…the newest delectable treat that will surely tempt even the most discriminating palate.

A food business was indeed practical since Charlie’s parents, engineer Pastor Esguerra, Jr., and Zenaida, were already in the hog-raising business.

"Charlie’s parents have a farm in Pulilan, Bulacan,so getting our supplies would not difficult," adds Dina.

The project went through various development stages for about a year and the couple admits that it wasn’t an easy ride.

"We encountered so many problems along the way. At first, we experimented with frying the piglet in the traditional; pan (head first then tail) since we didn’t have a cookware for that. What we needed was a frying pan the size of a small bathtub!" relates Charlie.

Charlie said that the ideal weight for a piglet for pritchon™ should be from 12 to 15 kilos, live weight, preferably aged one and a-half to two months.

Once the piglet is fried, you have to let it stand to drain off excess oil. It should be eaten within 30 minutes to enjoy its crunchiness.

"All de leches are like that. You have to eat it right away or else "lalambot" ang balat, " he stresses.

For the taste test, Charlie and Dina hosted a small party with close friends and family members. In a snap, the crunchy "biik" wa wiped out.

"Sarap to the bones! Nothing was left on the table except for, of course, the bones," enthuses Dina.

But the pritchon™ story doesn’t end there. Two weeks after the idea was hatched, Dina dreamt of her mom, the late Remedios Mayuga, who died of cancer.

"In my dream, she told me to put pritong lechon in pita wedges and make several sauces to go with it. It was 3 in the morning so I woke up with my husband and told him everything. That was when we decided to push through with the food business," Dina relates.

Charlies immediately called up her sister, Atel Jazmine, to help them wiped up different sauces for the pritchon™.

The following day, Atel went to Charlie and Dina’s house to discuss with them the possible sauces that would go well with the pritchon™. An other taste-test was conducted, this time with the sauces.

"I’ve concocted 14 sauces. We were joined by our relatives. Each one of them has a copy of the tally sheet. I asked them to put a check mark on the sauces they prefer. We tallied everything until we came up with seven sauces: hoisin, honey mustard, sate, Tagalog, honey lemon, white garlic and lechon liver sauce," Atel explains.

Atel added that pritchon™ is served similar to the Peking duck. The crispy skin is cut into smaller pieces and wrapped in pita wedge with chopped lechon meat, green onions, cucumber, and your preferred sauce.

"For P3,00, a whole pritchon™ comes with 60-piece pita wedges, green onions and cucumber, and four sauces. But for the first-time customers, we give them three additional sauces. On their next order, they will given only four sauces based on what they prefer," notes Atel.

Atel is a foodie by heart. She experiments a lot in the kitchen and loves to bake for her three kids.

"Actully, I'm more into baking. I accept made to order cakes," she adds.

Since the business started, the pritchon has spread like wild fire purely by word of mouth. Families and friends have been instrumental in disseminating the "pig" news.

Each pritchon™ is wrapped in a native mat to make it easy to carry. Charlie traveled all the way to Quezon just to get the materials.

Pritchon™ has indeed become a family business. Charlie and Dina are the major stockholders together with Charlie’s parents and Atel.

Charlie is the official delivery man and chopper. Even the couple’s children Regine, Jeremiah, and Timothy help to chop up and wrap the pritchon on peak days.

"I didn’t force my kids to do it. They were so curious and during family gatherings they would take turns in chopping the lechon. Before I knew it, they’ve mastered the art of chopping. Once in a while, they join us in our catering gigs but only during school breaks," Dina enthuses.

The couples also relies on their relatives during big functions. Helping them out are Christopher, Raffy, Gello, Karla, Bernice, Albert, and Vee Esguerra and friends Dennis Aguilar, Eric Jazmines, Rey Garcia, Analou Ngujo, Sam Obien, Regie Sabico, Junior Castro, Randy Dalangin and Thelma Ngujo.

"Charlie’s Pritchon™: The Original Pritong Biik is located at #35 Matapat St., Quezon City (near V Luna Hospital). For inquries, call 921-0405 or 09185318851

Read Articles About Charlie’s Pritchon™

• It's A Wrap for Charlie's Pritchon
  Philippine Daily Inquirer
  Eric S. Caruncho
• The Whole Hog
  People Asia
  Patricia M. Romualdez
• A Tale of Turkey and the Deep Fried Pig
  Food Magazine
  Lori B. Baltazar
• Reinventing the Native Lechon
  Weekender -Business World
  Cherry C. Bobadilla
• Pritchon™... The lechon reinvented!
  Manila Bulletin - Sunday Leisure
  Lai Suarez-Reyes
• Pritchon™: The " Pritong Biik" Deep Fried in Stainless Steel Tub
  Philippine Star
  Millie Reyes

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