[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":421},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:lechona-tolimense":3,"recipe:country:colombia":191},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":39,"serveWith":49,"storage":51,"faq":52,"equipment":68,"baseServings":74,"prepMinutes":75,"cookMinutes":76,"restMinutes":77,"difficulty":78,"course":79,"diet":81,"mainIngredients":84,"ingredients":89,"instructions":136,"nutrition":166,"images":171,"keywords":181,"publishedAt":189,"updatedAt":189,"authorSlug":190},"lechona-tolimense","Lechona Tolimense (Stuffed Roast Pork with Yellow Peas)","Lechona tolimense","leh-CHOH-nah toh-lee-MEN-seh","colombia","Tolima","🐖","Tolima's festival roast, scaled to a home oven: pork shoulder rolled around a cumin-heavy stuffing of yellow peas and diced pork, roasted slow, then blasted until the skin shatters.","Lechona is a whole young pig, deboned through the back, packed with its own chopped meat and a cumin-scented mash of yellow peas, sewn shut and roasted for the better part of a day until the skin turns into a rigid golden shell. Served, it is a square of that crackling with a scoop of the stuffing underneath — pork so soft it needs no knife, peas that have absorbed every drop of rendered fat, and a crack that carries across a room. No domestic oven holds a pig, so this version does the same thing with a rolled pork shoulder: the stuffing is cooked the traditional way, the roast goes low and slow, and the skin gets its blast of heat at the end. It feeds eight and it tastes unmistakably of Tolima.","Lechona belongs to Tolima and Huila, the departments of the upper Magdalena valley, where it is the food of fiestas patronales, weddings and the June festivals. It is cooked commercially rather than at home even in Tolima itself, because the real thing needs a horno de barro, a brick oven fired down to a steady low heat, and eight to twelve hours of it. Lechonerías sell it by the portion from a whole pig on a table, and the person carving works from the skin inwards, weighing out crackling and stuffing together.\n\nThere is a live argument about rice. Tolimense cooks maintain that authentic lechona contains yellow peas, pork and spices and nothing else, and that rice is an adulteration used to stretch the filling — a Bogotá habit, or a commercial one. Cooks and vendors elsewhere in Colombia add rice as a matter of course and consider it normal. Neither camp is going to concede, so the recipe below leaves it as an option and marks it as the disputed ingredient it is. Order lechona in Ibagué and you should not find rice in it.\n\nThe pig itself is not a suckling pig in the European sense despite the name — lechona is usually made with an animal of thirty to fifty kilos, old enough to carry real meat and a skin thick enough to crackle properly. It is served on a plate with an arepa, or with insulso, a plain steamed rice cake specific to the region, and eaten with the hands as often as not. Traditionally there is no sauce and no side salad: fat, cumin, peas and crackling are considered a complete idea.",[15,16,17,18],"Keeps the real filling — pork and yellow peas cooked in rendered fat — and only changes what a home oven forces you to change.","Treats the crackling as its own problem, with an overnight dry-salt and a separate high-heat stage instead of hoping for the best.","Names the rice question as an open dispute between Tolima and everywhere else, rather than quietly picking a side.","A rolled and tied shoulder carves into neat rounds, so every plate gets stuffing, meat and skin in the right proportion.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Ask the butcher for a boneless shoulder with the skin left on and, if possible, an extra sheet of skin to roast alongside for more crackling.","Dry the skin overnight uncovered in the fridge after salting. Damp skin steams instead of blistering, and that is the whole dish.","Yellow split peas should be soft but still individual — cooked to a smooth purée the stuffing turns pasty and heavy.","Cumin here goes in at a volume that feels excessive elsewhere. Two full tablespoons for this quantity is right, not a mistake.","Tie the roll every 3 cm with butcher's twine so the stuffing cannot escape as the meat contracts in the oven.","Rest the roast at least 20 minutes before carving, but keep the crackling out of the covered resting area or the steam will soften it.",[27,31,35],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Skin-on pork shoulder","Boneless shoulder plus a separate piece of pork skin or belly","If the shoulder comes skinless, roast a sheet of skin or a slab of belly on a rack above it — you lose nothing but the presentation, and the crackling is arguably better.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Dried yellow split peas","Green split peas, or arvejas amarillas from a Latin grocer","Green split peas cook the same way and taste close, though the finished stuffing looks khaki rather than the expected gold.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Achiote or color powder","Sweet paprika with a pinch of turmeric","This is a color adjustment more than a flavor one. Colombian kitchens use packaged color for the yellow-orange tone the stuffing is expected to have.",[40,43,46],{"name":41,"description":42},"With rice (the disputed version)","Fold 200 g of cooked white rice into the finished pea stuffing. Common across much of Colombia, rejected by Tolimense cooks who consider peas and pork the only legitimate filling.",{"name":44,"description":45},"Porcion de lechona","How it is actually sold: a square of crackling laid over a scoop of stuffing with a piece of meat, an arepa on the side, no plate cutlery required.",{"name":47,"description":48},"Lechona with insulso","Serve with insulso, the plain steamed rice cake of Tolima, instead of an arepa. It is bland by design and exists to absorb fat from the plate.",[50],"Arepas or insulso, a jar of ají picante, and cold beer — no sauce and no gravy, in keeping with how it is served in Tolima.","Carved meat and stuffing keep 4 days refrigerated and reheat well, covered, at 150°C with a splash of water so they do not dry out. The crackling will not survive storage in any recognisable form — it softens within hours — so keep it out of the fridge and finish it on the day. Both the meat and the stuffing freeze for 3 months; freeze them together in portions so the pea mixture stays moist, and thaw fully before reheating.",[53,56,59,62,65],{"question":54,"answer":55},"Does real lechona contain rice?","It depends who you ask, and the disagreement is genuine. Cooks in Tolima, where the dish comes from, insist that lechona is pork, yellow peas and spices only, and that rice is padding added elsewhere. In much of the rest of Colombia rice in the filling is standard and unremarkable. Neither version is a mistake; they are just from different places.",{"question":57,"answer":58},"Why did my crackling stay chewy instead of crisp?","Moisture is almost always the reason. The skin must be scored, salted and left uncovered in the fridge overnight so the surface dries out, and it needs a burst of high heat at the end — around 240°C — after the meat has cooked slowly. Crackling also goes soft again if you rest the roast under foil, so keep the skin uncovered and exposed to air.",{"question":60,"answer":61},"Can I make lechona without a whole pig?","Yes, and almost everyone outside a lechonería has to. A rolled shoulder or a leg with the skin on gives you the same three elements — slow-cooked pork, pea stuffing and crackling — in a form that fits a domestic oven. The one thing that cannot be reproduced at home is the long, gentle heat of a brick oven, which is what makes commercial lechona so soft.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"How far ahead can I prepare this?","The stuffing can be cooked two days ahead and refrigerated; it firms up and is easier to pack into the meat cold. Salt and score the skin the night before regardless, since that step needs the time. Stuff and tie the roast up to a day in advance, but bring it out of the fridge an hour before it goes into the oven so it roasts evenly.",{"question":66,"answer":67},"What internal temperature should the pork reach?","Aim for 88 to 92°C in the thickest part of the shoulder. This is well past the safe minimum on purpose: shoulder is full of connective tissue that only becomes tender once it has broken down, so a roast pulled at 70°C will be safe to eat but tough and dry-eating.",[69,70,71,72,73],"Large roasting tin with a rack","Butcher's twine","Sharp knife or scalpel for scoring skin","Meat thermometer","Heavy pot for the stuffing",8,45,250,720,"hard",[80],"main",[82,83],"gluten-free","dairy-free",[85,86,87,88],"pork-shoulder","pork-belly","cumin","scallions",[90,95,99,104,107,111,114,118,120,124,128,130],{"ref":85,"qty":91,"unit":92,"name":93,"group":94},2.5,"kg","boneless pork shoulder, skin on, butterflied","For the roast",{"qty":96,"unit":97,"name":98,"group":94},2,"tbsp","coarse salt, for the skin",{"ref":86,"qty":100,"unit":101,"name":102,"group":103},500,"g","pork belly, cut into 1 cm dice","For the stuffing",{"qty":105,"unit":101,"name":106,"group":103},400,"dried yellow split peas, soaked 4 hours and drained",{"ref":88,"qty":108,"unit":109,"name":110,"group":103},6,"piece","long scallions, finely sliced",{"ref":112,"qty":96,"unit":109,"name":113,"group":103},"onion","onions, finely chopped",{"ref":115,"qty":108,"unit":116,"name":117,"group":103},"garlic","clove","garlic, minced",{"ref":87,"qty":96,"unit":97,"name":119,"group":103},"ground cumin",{"ref":121,"qty":122,"unit":97,"name":123,"group":103},"achiote",1,"achiote or Colombian color powder",{"ref":125,"qty":122,"unit":126,"name":127,"group":103},"black-pepper","tsp","ground black pepper",{"qty":122,"unit":97,"name":129,"group":103},"fine salt, for the stuffing",{"ref":131,"qty":132,"unit":101,"name":133,"note":134,"optional":135,"group":103},"rice",200,"cooked white rice","the disputed addition — leave it out for the Tolima version",true,[137,140,144,147,152,155,159,163],{"title":138,"text":139},"Score and dry the skin","Score the pork skin in parallel lines a centimetre apart, cutting through the skin and into the fat but stopping before the meat. Rub the coarse salt into the cuts, set the joint skin-up on a rack and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight so the surface dries to the touch and feels like parchment.",{"title":141,"text":142,"timerSeconds":143},"Render the belly","Next day, put the diced pork belly in a cold heavy pot over medium heat and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fat has run out and the pieces are golden and shrunken. Scoop out the meat and leave roughly 4 tablespoons of fat in the pot.",1200,{"title":145,"text":146},"Build the pea stuffing","Soften the onion and scallion in the pork fat for 8 minutes until translucent and sweet-smelling, then stir in the garlic, cumin, achiote and pepper and fry for a minute until the spices darken and coat everything. Add the drained peas, the browned belly and enough water to cover by two fingers.",{"title":148,"text":149,"timerSeconds":150,"tip":151},"Cook the peas down","Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring often once it thickens, until the peas are tender enough to crush against the roof of your mouth but still hold their shape, and the mixture is thick enough that a spoon dragged through the pot leaves a channel. Season with the salt, fold in the rice if you are using it, and cool completely.",2700,"The stuffing must be cold before it goes into the meat, or the roast will overcook at the edges before the centre catches up.",{"title":153,"text":154},"Stuff and tie the roast","Open the butterflied shoulder meat-side up, season it with salt and pepper, and spread the cold stuffing over it in an even layer, leaving a 3 cm border. Roll it up firmly with the skin outside and tie with twine every 3 cm. Keep any spare stuffing in a covered dish to reheat later.",{"title":156,"text":157,"timerSeconds":158},"Roast slow","Set the roast on a rack in a tin and cook at 150°C for about 3 hours and 15 minutes, until a thermometer in the thickest part of the meat reads 88 to 92°C and a skewer slides in with almost no resistance. If the skin colors too fast early on, shield it loosely with foil.",11700,{"title":160,"text":161,"timerSeconds":162},"Blast the skin","Turn the oven up to 240°C, remove any foil, and roast a further 25 to 30 minutes. Watch it closely through the last ten: the skin should bubble up into hard golden domes across the whole surface and tap like a shell rather than dent under your fingernail.",1800,{"title":164,"text":165,"timerSeconds":143},"Rest and carve","Rest the roast uncovered for 20 minutes on a board — covering it will soften the crackling you just worked for. Cut off the crackling in sheets, snap it into squares, then slice the meat into rounds. Serve each plate with a slice, a spoonful of stuffing and a piece of skin on top.",{"calories":167,"protein":168,"carbs":169,"fat":170,"fiber":74,"estimated":135},790,49,33,50,[172,175,177,179],{"src":173,"alt":174},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flechona-tolimense\u002Fhero.jpg","Sliced rolled pork roast with blistered golden crackling revealing a yellow split pea and pork stuffing",{"src":176,"alt":174},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flechona-tolimense\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":178,"alt":174},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flechona-tolimense\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":180,"alt":174},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flechona-tolimense\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[182,183,184,185,186,187,188],"lechona","tolima","roast pork","crackling","yellow split peas","colombian festival 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egg","andean",{"slug":325,"title":326,"nativeName":327,"countrySlug":8,"region":328,"baseServings":227,"prepMinutes":75,"cookMinutes":198,"restMinutes":284,"difficulty":200,"course":329,"diet":332,"mainIngredients":333,"images":334,"keywords":338,"publishedAt":189,"updatedAt":189,"authorSlug":190},"colombian-empanadas","Empanadas Colombianas (Fried Corn Pastries with Potato and Beef)","Empanadas colombianas","Nationwide, strongest in Antioquia and Valle",[330,331],"street-food","snack",[82,83],[238,206,264],[335],{"src":336,"alt":337},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcolombian-empanadas\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden deep-fried Colombian corn empanadas, one broken open to show potato and beef filling, with green ají",[339,247,340,341,342,343,344],"colombian empanadas","aji","street food","fried empanadas","potato beef filling","gluten 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Colombian natilla dusted with cinnamon on a tray, with buñuelos alongside",[371,372,373,374,375,365,376],"natilla","colombian christmas","panela","milk pudding","cornstarch dessert","bunuelos",{"slug":378,"title":379,"nativeName":380,"countrySlug":8,"region":381,"baseServings":227,"prepMinutes":228,"cookMinutes":382,"difficulty":230,"course":383,"diet":384,"mainIngredients":386,"images":387,"keywords":391,"publishedAt":189,"updatedAt":189,"authorSlug":190},"colombian-patacones","Patacones (Colombian Twice-Fried Green Plantains)","Patacones","Caribbean and Pacific coasts",20,[233,331,330],[385,236,82,83,361],"vegan",[265,115],[388],{"src":389,"alt":390},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fcolombian-patacones\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden twice-fried green plantain rounds with cracked lacy edges, piled beside a bowl of tomato hogao",[392,393,394,395,396,397,344],"patacones","tostones","green plantain","colombian side","twice fried","caribbean 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