We already know that the lucky food of 2019 is lechon.

 

To double the luck, stuff it with ingredients that are said to bring good fortune to those who partake of it.

 

 ‘Lechon’

 

1 pig (5.5 to 6 kg dressed weight) available at Lander’s Superstores

Sea salt

 

Wash the cavity of the pig by pouring hot water into it. Drain. Pat cavity and the whole piglet dry.

 

Rub cavity with 1/3 c sea salt.

 

Insert stuffing of choice into the cavity (see below). Stitch up cavity.

 

Rub 1/3 cup sea salt on the skin until the salt melts and is absorbed by the skin.

 

Put pig on a rack over a baking tray.

 

Brush ears and the tail with vegetable oil and wrap first with bake paper and then with foil.

 

Roast on the lowest rack of a preheated 325°F or 350°F oven for two hours.

 

Increase heat to 375°F and continue to roast until skin turns golden brown and crispy.

 

Lucky stuffing

 

Here are feng shui master Aldric Dalumpines’ lucky stuffing suggestions and how I would do it:

 

For more gold or money: ponkan or oranges, the sweet ones.

 

Quarter six large oranges. Drizzle oranges with olive oil. Add 1 tbsp peppercorns, a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, bay leaves, some cloves and some cinnamon sticks.

 

Stuff pig and stitch up.

 

For family harmony: whole roasted or boiled chicken with head and feet.

 

I would opt for roast chicken and position it inside the cavity.

 

Combine a few whole leeks (cut into threes), some quartered onions, a handful of star anise and peeled whole garlic cloves, a tablespoon of whole peppercorns, a few sprigs of coriander with stems. Drizzle with sesame oil and toss lightly.

 

Stuff pig and stitch the cavity.

 

For love: roast duck or goose.

 

Follow the same steps as the chicken’s.

 

For double prosperity: whole pre-steamed or fried boneless milkfish.

 

Flake two cups of tinapang bangus.

 

Lightly fry the bangus in a little oil. Take out bangus. Add a little more oil and fry chopped garlic until golden. Add 6 cups of day-old rice. Season with salt, pepper, liquid seasoning. Add the bangus, some chopped salted eggs and green onions.

 

Stuff and stitch up lechon.

 

Serve lechon with chopped tomatoes, onions, vinegar and some chilies with kalamansi.

 

For serious wealth: precooked, steamed or boiled clams, oysters, mussels as these seafood attract prosperity for the eater.

 

Sticky rice fosters unity and harmony, says Dalumpines.

 

In a rice cooker, combine 5 cups sticky rice with 5 cups chicken stock and 4 tbsp soy sauce. When the rice is cooked, add shellfish, some green onions and fried shallots. Mix and season to taste.

 

Stuff and stitch up lechon.

 

For politicians/candidates: roasted peanuts to multiply votes.

 

Marinate the lechon with beer, too—another social drink to boost votes.

 

Follow instructions for sticky rice. Before cooking in rice cooker, add sliced Chinese sausage. Once done, toss peanuts into rice mixture. Add green onions. Drizzle with sesame oil.

 

I would brush the cavity with some beer, season it with salt, leave an hour or two to marinate before stuffing with sticky rice and peanut mixture.

 

For fertility: peanuts and/or watermelon seeds.

 

Follow sticky rice method.

 

Auspicious dates

 

To maximize the flow of good fortune from eating lechon, Dalumpines has suggestions on when and how to serve it:

 

Auspicious dates are from Feb. 4, Chinese New Year Eve, to Feb. 14. The Lunar New Year, after all, is a two-week fete.

 

On Feb. 4, to welcome the Year of the Earth Pig’s blessings, surround the roast pig with only eight identical, round, sweet fruits plus a pineapple fronting the pig’s mouth.

 

Serve it whole, with an apple in its mouth, atop a yellow table cloth, facing the breadwinner of the family.

 

Let the breadwinner serve it. Dalumpines explains that when breadwinners carve the lechon as a New Year rite, it is like consecrating or blessing it as food for the soul—unconditional love and wishes of good health, prosperity and happiness for all who will eat or partake of the feast.

 

Dalumpines says that apart from being this year’s lucky dish, the local roasted pig will be the “blowout” of choice.

 

He says 2019 means “getting or going down to earth.” As such, expect it “to be a year full of upsets, political or not, marked by festive celebrations of (and by) the upsetters.”

 

Earth Pig 2019 outlook

 

Wealth luck for: Rat, Ox, Dragon, Rabbit, Dog, Sheep, Rooster, Horse and Tiger

 

Be careful with your wealth: Monkey, Snake and Pig

 

Health luck for: Tiger and Rabbit

 

Be careful with your health: Monkey, Dog, Snake, Pig and Rooster

 

Career luck for: Rabbit, Sheep, Dog, Dragon and Tiger

 

Be careful in career: Snake, Monkey and Pig

 

Love life luck for: Rooster, Rabbit, Rat, Tiger, Ox, Sheep, Horse and Dragon

 

Be careful in love life: Dog, Monkey, Pig and Snake

 

 

For a copy of the 2019 feng shui guide and for arowana ring charms, contact Dalumpines, tel. 09993128168.