🔴 Pepita's Kitchen by Lechon Diva: Making Lechon and Filipino Food a Global Sensation!

🔴 Pepita's Kitchen by the Lechon Diva: Making Lechon and Filipino Food a Global Sensation!
KEY LEARNINGS:
✅ Be sincere and be humble as you continually build your connections throughout your career.
✅ Be known for one delicious dish and perfect it before expanding your offerings.
✅ Always acknowledge the people that helped you along the way. Be eternally grateful!
00:00 INTRODUCTION
01:38 PEPITA’S KITCHEN @ RESORTS WORLD LAS VEGAS
04:37 THE ORIGIN STORY OF PEPITA’S LECHON
09:38 MAKING LECHON A GLOBAL SENSATION
17:16 THE LECHONERA DIFFERENCE
26:27 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING
30:59 FINAL DIVA THOUGHTS
THE ORIGIN STORY OF PEPITA’S LECHON
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Lechon Diva: Even me I’m just so thankful and grateful because I never planned to make my cooking a business. It just fell on my lap. Growing up every summer, I would be sent to the Aldeguer sisters for the Hawaiian dance and in the afternoon cooking lessons with Sylvia Reynoso Gala.
So because, you know, Tita Sylvia’s very nice. As a child, you will enjoy cooking. She was just such a pleasant person. Then my mom also loves to cook. So it was just something that was natural. Then every Sunday. I love going with our help to the palenge of Parañaque. I grew up in Parañaque San Dionisio.
Sa palengke, I love going and choosing the fish, so alam ko hindi ako nandidiri. I enjoyed yung hasang. I know all that, the pork, the gulay, the kakanins. Sundays were special because I wake up early and go with our help to the palengke. I never thought , when I’m a little older, this will be my profession.
Okay. I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook lechon. So maybe for three or four years, I just couldn’t find the school that will teach. Until finally Reggie Aspiras. So for them to have a class, you have to have at least six students. And they only had three. So me and yaya of my daughter, so that it will be five. I called on a Saturday, Sunday but no class still. But whoever was answering the phone of Reggie Aspiras said the class will push through (on a Monday). So the next day I went there and then she was teaching, she gave the contact number of the person where you can order the pugon because that’s one of the secrets . So that’s Jerry Yu of Firebrick Oven.
So I called him while the class was ongoing, sabi niya two months . cause I’m very excited, I feel it’s really my destiny. Tapos sabi niya ay hindi puede dahil two months gawin. Alam mo meron akong isang order, pero nagkasakit yung nagorder, nahiya akong tawagan, so sige sayo na lang. Oh my God, the next day pinakuha ko. I experimented my first was binagoongang rice stuffed lechon.
I had a group of friends who I call my guinea pig friends, my Happy Gang. I asked them to taste it. They liked it. Then a few months after they pushed me. They said, join the Ultimate Taste Test. Kaya ko ba yon? Join lang. Okay. You know I was taught by my parents and never to let an opportunity pass. Never even if you lose or what, at least it was there -go for it. So I said, okay, so ang daming tao pala and then you got to make the long story short. I rank very high, the lechon rank very high.. Wow. So that’s started it people started writing about my Binagoongan Rice Stuffed Lechon but it was a slow take off.
The next year sabi ko shocks Sisig Rice naman. So I had Sisig Rice and Anton asked me to join again. So I was ranked high again. So slowly, it cannot be really quick. And then whenever we would eat out, they love ordering truffle risotto, Sabi ko omg, yun kaya ilagay ko sa Lechon? They ate it and nagustuhan nila so that was my next. And that’s when it took off because after that Pepita’s Truffle Rice Stuffed Lechon was awarded in London as Tastiest Dish in Asia by the Chowzter group. But yeah, I’m thankful and grateful. The journey has been so wonderful. I’ve been just so lucky and it’s the people that you meet.

[@zeny1666]

Well I’m so excited to taste the Pepitas Lechon .. I’m from Vegas it’s only take 15 minutes drive from my place.😊

[@mcofvegas4916]

I went to Resorts World yesterday & got a chance to try out Pepita's lechon. First of all, it's way too expensive! The portion was too small, they don't have the sauce that supposed to go with it & the overall taste was mediocre

[@CombatDoc136]

how much did you pay tyson to come visit the shop...since he doesnt eat pork anymore being a muslim...