Señor Cochinillo (Roast Suckling Pig) Honest Review
January 11, 2021
I first tasted cochinillo during a day trip to Segovia. At that time, I had never heard of cochinillo but I was very familiar with lechon (the Philippine’s version of roast pig). I was expecting something similar, but was instead shocked when I was faced with two things:
- A much smaller pig – they’re roughly 1/4 the size of a normal lechon in the Philippines. That’s because these little piglets were slaughtered when they were ~1 month old, and still weighed less than 10 pounds. One cochinillo should comfortably feed 6 people
- They use a plate to cut up the cochinillo, instead of a butcher’s knife! This is because chefs take incredible pride in the tenderness of their roast pigs and prove it by showcasing how even a blunt plate can easily slice through the piglet. Ughh, the crunch of the skin as it gives way to the plate still echoes in my dreams
- Unlike normal lechon, where there’s sometimes a surplus of rather icky fat, the cochinillo has a well browned and crunch skin, with minimal underlying fat underneath
Other fun facts about cochinillo which I didn’t realize then, but found out afterwards:
- A suckling pig (as defined by the Spanish) is one that has only been fed on mother’s milk and has never been allowed to run free. I guess you wouldn’t call them free range then. During this time, the mother pig feeds on rye, oats, cabbage, and potatoes – all good stuff, that adds a lot of flavor to its milk, and consequently, the cochinillo you’re about to eat
- If you see tiny beads of moisture on the cochinillo, that’s a really good sign of freshness. Most restaurants would receive the cochinillo 24-48 hours after the piglet was slaughtered, then cook it immediately in a special half-done, open-faced brick oven
Well, now that I’ve served to make you hungry… I had thought I wouldn’t be able to try cochinillo again unless I went back to Spain. Surprisingly though, Metro Manila seems to have been hit by the cochinillo craze, so I decided… why not! Ordered cochinillo from Señor Cochinillo for New Year’s Eve, and here’s my honest review of my eating experience!
Verdict: Happy with my cochinillo, but nothing beats your 1st experience!
Was Señor Cochinillo good?
What I liked:
- The skin was relatively crispy in most parts – but not crispy enough to be cracked by just a plate though LOL. I suspect it was crispy enough when freshly cooked, but by the time it got to me (~20 mins travel time), it wasn’t anymore 🙁
- The flavor was just right – not too salty, which is sometimes a pet peeve of mine with lechon
- Really tender meat! My gosh. Normally, I skip out on lechon because I find that only ~30% of the lechon meat is tender – the rest are either fatty or quite tough. But the cochinillo was tender all throughout
What I didn’t like
- The skin doesn’t stay crispy. After 30 minutes, it became rather gummy so we ended up binning all the skin. Such a shame!
Note: To enjoy, you’re supposed to reheat in a pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 15-20 mins, then let it rest for 20mins to ensure maximum crispiness
How to purchase from Señor Cochinillo?
Order from their Facebook page: Señor Cochinillo to check their availability, as cochinillo sells out FAST
- Open every Wednesday to Sunday only
- Pick up time: 11am, 3pm and 6pm. You can pick up from either Marikina or Caloocan. The Caloocan branch is quite near UE Caloocan, which made my day because it’s MUCH nearer to my house
- Pay via GCash, BDO, or Metrobank