Alejandro’s Crispy Pata

CRISPY Pata is a popular dish in restaurants offering Filipino cuisine.  Deep fried pig trotter or knuckles,  it is served with a vinegar-soy sauce dip with garlic and additional red chili for those who like it spicy.

Actually, this twice-cooked Filipino favorite was invented in the

late 1950s by  Sixta “Mama Chit” Evangelista Ongpauco, who served the dish in the family owned Barrio Fiesta Restaurant in Caloocan.

I choose to eat healthy, so Crispy Pata, just like Lechon, its cousin the Lechon Kawali and Ilocano Bagnet, is a delicious treat I’d  usually pass up. But the invitation of RCTV host Alexis Yap whose family owns

Alejandro’s Crispy Pata, was a good excuse to give in to this porky indulgence. Alexis said that lunch will be at the first franchise of Alejandro’s (The restaurant  opened recently

at The Crossroads along Gov. M. Cuenco Ave., Cebu City). Three young franchise owners from

Surigao, Katherine and Richard Cua Ho and Lesley Ann Go personally manage the restaurant, one of the businesses they oversee.

Alexis mother, Ma. Lourdes,

who’s fondly called “Malou,” joined Alexis in hosting lunch for a small group of writers. Malou is an Ilocana who grew up in Dagupan City in Pangasinan where my veterinarian husband Eddie comes from. With my Ilocano roots, too, it was instant rapport between us. In between bites of Crispy Kangkong dipped in mayonnaise dressing, Malou related to us how destiny brought her to Cebu. She was working for a pharmaceutical company when she met her husband, Alejandro Yap, who was in the industry, too. She remembers opening their house to colleagues where she found herself preparing home-cooked meals. With the growing popularity of her Filipino dishes, Malou and her husband decided

to open a small restaurant. Her

specialty, Crispy Pata, became her signature dish. Thus, Alejandro’s Crispy Pata opened its doors at

Capitol Site in 1991.

Her son Alexis, eventually took over the restaurant business, with the Crispy Pata reigning supreme and gaining a good following. And, as the Crispy Pata was

being served, Alexis shared briefly how he prepares

this   deep-fried favorite. He meticulously chooses the pig’s legs, making sure that each weighs 1.2 kilos per. These are boiled with the right spices and herbs until tender but firm and frozen before deep-frying. The skin is deliciously crunchy and the meat succulent and tender. The vinegar-soy sauce dip with garlic had a good balance of sourness and saltiness that complements the mild taste of the fried knuckles. I enjoyed

using my fingers to pick

on the crackling skin

and meat clinging to

the bones. More Filipino dishes were served—

Sinigang na Hipon, Sizzling Squid in Coconut Cream, Relyenong Talong, Sizzling Boneless Chicken and

Bihon with Pork Leg meat. To cap our hearty lunch,

we had the classic Halo-halo sprinkled with corn flakes instead of the classic “pinipig”.