Nose to Tail Pigging out.

After the first year anniversary party at Delectable Su’s we, i.e. A lil Fat Monkey, CT, Keith(Velvetescape) and Ciki headed down to the famous ‘strip’ in Kuala Lumpur for food and night life, Changkat Bukit Bintang.

The party scene on Bukit Bintang is a colourful and glamourous affair. Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL is a well-known stretch of road filled with pubs that transform into bustling watering holes after dark and restaurants that turn into hip and happening party venues by night. Plenty of nightlife options are also available along Jalan Bukit Bintang. There are many hotels and backpacking lodges to choose from around this area and due to its central location, this place has become extremely popular with travelers.

Starters of Proscuitto and Melon  as well as a potato soup

Specializing in pork dishes from around the world, El Cerdo, meaning ‘The Pig’ in Spanish, is a restaurant dedicated to porcine delights.

Cochinillo Asado or Roast Suckling Pig is one of the most typical dishes in Spanish cuisine, and here at El Cerdo, they do my favourite version of it, ever. El Cerdo takes great pride in the tenderness of their roast pigs and cut them with plates, as you will soon see in the photo below.

The waitress shows Keith how to cut the suckling pig using just a plate.

A suckling pig as the Spanish define it has fed only on mother’s milk, has never been allowed to run free, and is no more than a month old.The pig’s skin may look waxy at first, but what it is, is in fact tiny beads of moisture, a sign of freshness, and not wax.
I love the suckling pig here because that nice, thin layer of fat under the skin is of the right thickness- not too dense and heavy but just enough to impart that succulent taste to the pig.  On closer inspection you will see that the fat looks slightly crusty as the parchment outside and this is just heavenly to eat!

The meat from the suckling pig is pale and tender and the skin is crispy. It is amazing how you can cut through the entire pig with just the blunt ended plate. You can see Keith demonstrating in the collage above (red t-shirt) how it’s done.  The texture of the meat can be somewhat gelatinous due to the amount of collagen in a young pig and believe it or not, the collagen is really good for you.

Be warned though, you will probably need to put up with a lot of noise from the plate smashing that goes on, a Spanish tradition that is taken very seriously at Al Cerdo. Just be glad that the noise is intermittent and not continuous, is all I can say!

CT(right) and Ciki(left) do the suckling pig justice. A lil Fat Monkey and Keith look on in disbelief as we devour every inch of the pig. This is what El Cerdo calls, Nose to Tail eating!

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