Lechon con Tokwa

Lechon con Tokwa is a classic dish from Boy Ching Woo Chinese Restaurant prepared with a mix of lechon kawali and fried tofu served over a sweet and savoury sauce.

If you lived near Caloocan in Metro Manila most probably you would have heard of the one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in the Philippines, probably the oldest outside of Binondo, Boy Ching Woo. And if you had dined in there most probably you would have tried their specialties like their Battered Chicken and our copycat recipe for today, the Lechon con Tokwa.

Lechon con Tokwa as many said, it is the Lechon Paksiw for health conscious, why? Because it is prepared with a mixture of fried tofu and lechon kawali, rather than 100% pork. This dish has been served in the restaurant since 1939, and up until now, I bet it is still one of their best sellers, and it’s easy to understand why. Its sweet, its savoury, its partly crispy and its porky, its everything you want in a Filipino dish.

I don’t exactly know the recipe, but I had tried similar dishes from Chinese restaurants outside the Philippines, so recreated the recipe it based on my memories and experience. Honestly, it tastes the same, I will leave it up to you to decide if I nailed it.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Lechon con Tokwa 1

Lechon con Tokwa

  • Author: Raymund
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Filipino

Description

Lechon con Tokwa is a classic dish from Boy Ching Woo Chinese Restaurant prepared with a mix of lechon kawali and fried tofu served over a sweet and savoury sauce.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 500 g lechon kawali
  • 1 large tofu block, approx. 400 g
  • 2 pcs shallots, finely sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-inch ginger, grated
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 cup pork stock
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • sesame oil
  • ground white pepper
  • oil
  • chopped spring onions, to garnish

Instructions

  1. Cut tofu into 3/4-inch-thick slabs.
  2. In a wok heat enough oil for deep frying, then deep fry tofu until golden brown in colour. Remove from wok, drain then cut into cubes.
  3. Remove all apart from 2 tbsp of oil from the wok.
  4. Sauté garlic, shallots and ginger.
  5. In a bowl mix and combine fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, brown sugar, pork stock and cornstarch. Pour mixture in the wok then let it boil and thicken. If it’s too thick to your liking add a bit of water.
  6. Add the lechon kawali and fried tofu, stir to distribute sauce, cook for 2 minutes in very high heat. Season with ground white pepper.
  7. Drizzle some sesame oil on top, turn heat of then place on a serving platter.
  8. Top with chopped spring onions then serve.

Notes

Cooking time does not include Lechon Kawali’s cooking time

 

Recommended

8 Responses

  1. Looks delightful! I prefer 100% pork though :-))) The more meat, the merrier!

  2. This sounds delicious with all that flavor in there. I must admit that I would prefer the pork over the tofu, but it would be quite tasty either way!

  3. Hannah says:

    The funny thing is, at a glance, I thought this was eggplant! Now I need to try that substitution for a meatless rendition. Sounds delicious that way!

  4. Well of course pork would be wonderful, but I really like the idea of tofu. Tofu always picks up the flavor of spices so well. This looks delish — thanks.

  5. Juliana says:

    No question…pork over tofu…but I bet you the tofu is loaded with the pork flavor so hard to not like…now I just need a bowl of rice to go with this dish.
    Have a great rest of the week Raymund!

  6. That looks absolutely delightful! Love love pork especially when it’s lechon! 😀 Hope you and your family are all well during this time!

  7. I’ll try it for lunch today.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.