*Warning: this post contains images of whole pig*
“I don’t suppose it’s a good idea to name her” I say surveying the 7 kilo piglet on the tray. I’m talking to George Diamond who is the Group Executive Chef for the Keystone Group’s restaurants including Bungalow 8 where tomorrow we are to have a porcine feast with eight of my friends.
“We can call her Miss Piggy” he says smiling.
“Done!” I say.
Miss Piggy is why I’m standing in the kitchen, chef’s jacket on and surveying a pig the day before my most pork loving friends and I are going to gather at Bungalow 8. We will have a pork fest with a Peking style suckling pig with trimmings like Asian coleslaw, steamed buns, roti, baked mantou buns, hoi sin and plum sauce and an addictive chilli caramel. It is Bungalow 8′s new strike for the food lover.
Group Executive Chef George Diamond
Previously known for more bar food and the ubiquitous all you can mussels, pies and fish and chips, they’ve now revamped the menu to try and lure more food lovers that want something beyond deep fried bar food. George’s background is fine dining so he uses his skills to have arrived at a menu that will not alienate the regulars yet gives more balance and the list of salads I note sound particularly good. The new style of food here is now more share style. David Gray ex Manly Pavilion and Atlantic has been tasked with working with George on the food as well as the service.
Started only three weeks ago the suckling pig is their new signature dish and even though it is new in concept they sell about seven pigs a week. In keeping with the new Tiki and Asian theme it is served Peking Style. Do you know how Peking Duck has a lovely crisp skin on it and tender meat underneath and is served with pancakes and sauces? Well with careful preparation this suckling pig also has a crispy skin flavoured with Asian flavours like soy and five spice and is served with buns that you assemble yourself filling it with whatever you fancy from the platter. The suckling pigs need to be ordered 48 hours in advance, cost $490 and are designed to feed 8 people.
They use Macleay Valley pigs which are free range and organic pigs and each weighs about seven kilos. As George points out, they’re all female as female pigs are better to eat (males have a distinct hormonal smell to them). And I’m about to learn how to make a suckling pig! And pork enthusiasts, George has been kind enough to share the recipe with us should you care to knock the socks off your family at Christmas! 
You will need a larger 900mm oven for this but do check that your pig will fit.
Our lunch was scheduled for a Sunday so the day before in the afternoon I arrived at Bungalow 8 to do the first part of the pig preparation. This is the key to the success of the pig and the glassy, crunchy crackling. George has already trussed and broken the backbone of the pig for presentation so that the legs can sit below the body. He then uses a blowtorch to singe off any hairs on the pig and then uses a dry rub consisting of salt and five spice mixture and to draw out the moisture from the pig as you want the pig to be as dry as possible. Next he rubs the dry rub all over the outside and inside of the pig. Take care around the ears as they are delicate and can fall off. Leave this salt rub to infuse for two hours by which time some liquid will have pooled under the pig as the salt draws it out.
After two hours, taking a few ladlefuls of boiling water, wash off the dry rub from the outside of the pig (you don’t need to wash the inside) and then take some paper towels and dry the pig. The hot water shocks the skin and readies it for you to apply the homemade marinade of soy sauce, malt sugar and water to the pig and air dry it uncovered next to a fan in the fridge to dry the skin. You will end up applying the marinade three times to pig, air drying it for two hours between each application so that the pig is marinated for a total of six hours (and this is why you need to pre order it).
Miss Piggy cooling by the fan
The next day I arrive just over two hours before when we are to eat lunch. The pig has been sitting by the fan drying overnight and the skin feels firm, like leather. George is pleased with the way it has come up and the colour on the pig is a light golden colour. Now we are ready to prepare the pig for the oven and that is simple, just covering the tail and ears gently with foil to prevent them from overcooking. George does one ear while I do the other.
Oh no! The foil on the right ear has blown off!
And into the oven it goes at 190C for 1 hour and forty five minutes. And after the first half hour head chef Brett notices that the foil on the ear that I covered has come off (arrgh I would so be fired!) but George actually likes the look of the ears up and says that he will do that from now on! Don’t you love chefs that don’t yell at you and find rainbows instead or rain? George also takes the chance to remove the string that trussed the pig as it is no longer needed.
Our next course is to prepare the Asian slaw which is made using wombok (Chinese cabbage), carrot, bean sprouts, spring onion and fresh shiitake mushrooms. It can be prepped ahead of time but needs to be dressed at the last minute just before serving. The dressing is made up of fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar and is a fresh, piquant dressing rather than a creamy dressing. We chiffonade all of the vegetables and toss them and have the dressing ready for when we will need it.
Frying the roti
Folding the roti over for presentation
The next step is to brush the mantou buns with eggwash. They buy these buns from a Chinese bakery and we just heat them in the oven with the pork about 10 minutes before we want to serve the pig. The roti is fried on an oiled grill just before serving and each roti round is sliced in half and then folded over ready for filling. The steamed buns that they make here and put in the steam oven around this time too.
House made steamed buns
The pig is done! We take it out of the oven to rest as the skin is crispy crunchy but it will soften when it is out of the oven. When you want to eat it, you just return it to the oven for 15 minutes to crisp the skin up to a glass crackling state. We start preparing the board while our friends arrive. The boards are custom made for Bungalow 8 and have a recess around the edge to catch any drips. We line the board with banana leaves and pick the ferns. Here they use a combination of ming, joey and leather ferns to decorate the pig. The pig has gone back into the oven for the final crisping and we dress the coleslaw.
The three sauces are ready in bowls and the chilli caramel sauce (which is amazing and they go through 20 litres of this a week!) comes in a little pouring vessel. The pig is ready and we give Miss Piggy a brush of sesame oil to make her glisten and we pile the buns and ferns around her and George brings her out (I’m definitely not game to lift her!). And like Miss Piggy of The Muppets, she is a show stopper. People turn and come up to take photos of her. A girl says “My dad asked me to take a photo of it”.
George explains the process of the pig and starts breaking down the pig for us. This is something usually done in the kitchen but I was curious to see how it was done. He starts by cutting down the backbone where we hear the crispy shell crack under the knife and removed the skin from the meat. And then slices along the sides of the rib cage. And the prized cuts according to George and the other chefs in the kitchen? Why the cheek or jowl and the ear!
Bunga’s BBQ pork Steamed Buns $13 for 3
While George is breaking down the pig we try the BBQ pork steamed buns which are filled with12 hour cooked pork belly, shiitake slaw, plum sauce and crunchy pork crackling enclosed on one of those soft steamed buns. I particularly like the crackling contrast in texture and it whets our appetite for the main event, the suckling pig.
We all dig in, the smell of the pig is heavenly and I claim one cheek/jowl and ear. The ear is deliciously crispy and you can hear the crunch in your ears with every bite. The cheek and jowl are sublimely soft, like the cheeks of a fish it’s tender and juicy and I savour every mouth watering bite. We stuff the buns with pork and skin, coleslaw and drizzle it with sauce.
Cauliflower & chickpea jungle curry with coconut chutney and onion bhaji $19.50
There’s plenty for everyone and even vegetarian Amaya gets well taken care of with some vegetarian dishes including samosas and a creamy cauliflower & chickpea jungle curry with coconut chutney and crispy onion bhaji and some vegetable and chestnut dumplings with a ginger soy (fabulous!).
Vegetable and chestnut dumplings $14
Halfway through they reheat the pork and buns for us. Mr NQN takes the head and finishes the cheeks. Try as we might and with five strapping males on our table, we couldn’t finish it all although I must say that an impressive attempt was made by my swooning pork loving friends.
Heirloom Tomato salad $18.50
Grilled pineapple $13
And because you need an even sweeter ending, there is dessert too! We start with the tropical, lightly scorched pineapple flavoured with star anise and served with coconut ice-cream. The coconut ice cream gives the sweet, lightly tangy pineapple a nice creaminess and there are little pieces of shredded coconut in it. It’s finished off with some passionfruit gel which adds tanginess and shredded, toasted coconut.
Caramelised lime Tart with Tahitian vanilla cream$13
The caramelised lime tart had a bruleed top which cracked appealingly. The tart had a tangy creaminess from the cream, eggs and strong lime and the vanilla cream was aromatic with vanilla from a generous serve of Tahitian vanilla beans.
Banana Ice-Cream Brownie sandwich $13
The banana ice cream brownie sandwich is two thin moist brownie layers (more cake than brownie) on top and bottom sandwiching a real banana ice cream, smooth and strong in banana. It’s served with a diced mango salad, pieces of nut brittle and a passionfruit gel that really enhances the ice cream sandwich.
Even though the heavens had opened up and deposited some of the rain that Sydney has been experiencing so much of lately, everyone sits tight through the downpour. There is after all, delicious pig to eat and we have our priorities.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried suckling pig? And what are you going to make this Christmas?
Laporello describes the tender meat
Crispy Peking Style Suckling Pig
Recipe by George Diamond from The Keystone Group
8 Portions
Ingredients
1 x 6kg Whole Suckling Pig
16 x Steamed Buns – steamed for 5 minutes
16 x Roti Bread – warmed on the grill
16 x Cantonese Golden Bread Buns
8 x portions Asian Slaw
100ml x Plum Sauce
100ml x Hoi Sin Sauce
1/10th Bunch x Ming Fern
1/10th Bunch x Joey Fern
1/10th Bunch x Leather Fern
100gm Banana Leaf
100ml x Citrus Caramel (recipe below)
Asian Slaw – 8 portions
300gm x Wombok sliced finely
200gm Carrot Julienne
100 gm Bean Sprouts
1/5 bunch Spring onions finely sliced diagonally
¼ Bunch Large Shiso Leaves
1 x Portion Dressing
Dressing for Slaw
120ml Fish Sauce
120 ml Rice Vinegar
1 ½ Tspn Sugar
Mix together
Peking Style Marinade
Rub
30gm 1 tablespoon) salt
7 ml (1 tablespoon) five-spice powder
Marinade
5 ml (1 teaspoon) malt sugar
15 ml (1 tablespoon) soy sauce
30 ml (2 tablespoons) water
Method
1. Mix the salt with the five-spice powder. Rub the mixture thoroughly over the suckling pig, both inside and out, and leave to season for 2 hours.
2. Pour a large kettleful of boiling water over the skin and the whole length of the carcass, and use another kettleful to rinse out the cavity. Wipe and dry thoroughly with a dry cloth or absorbent paper.
3. Mix the malt sugar with the soy sauce and water. Rub the mixture evenly over the cooled and dried skin of the pig. Do these three times and after each application allows the pig to dry in the cool room, this will take 6 hours.
4. Gently cover the ears and the tail with foil. Put the suckling pig on a wire rack into a preheated oven at 190°C for 45 minutes. Roast the pig for an hour and thirty minutes. Place a roasting pan half full of water at the bottom of the oven to catch the drips.
5. When Pig is cooked remove from oven and allow to rest. Place the pig back in the oven for 15 minutes when required to crisp up the skin again.
6. To serve, place the Roasted Pig on a large wooden cutting board lined with Banana Leaf with the Steamed Buns, Roti Bread, Asian Slaw, Chilli Caramel and Dipping Sauces. Line the board with Ferns. Brush some Sesame oil on the Whole pig to shine it up.
Chilli Caramel
250 gm Palm Sugar
Juice and zest of One Lime
100 ml Fish Sauce
20 ml Mandarin Juice
10 gm Fresh Chilli sliced finely
Heat the palm sugar until caramelized, add the zest and fish sauce, simmer for 5 minutes
and add the lime & mandarin juices and sliced chilli and cook for another 2 minutes.
Taste for balance.
NQN and guests dined as guests of Bungalow 8
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60 Comments | Add your own
I have never tried suckling pig. I wouldn’t be able to eat it, if it was presented at the table as a whole pig. It would be even scarier for me than chicken feet (have since conquered that fear and really like them)! I would have to have someone cut it up without me seeing and then I would happily eat it:)
The pork buns look so good! So does the very colourful tomato salad:)
So jealous I didn’t get to eat this!!! Looks incredible. Great story Lorraine and will definitely keep this in mind for my next social event
We did a whole roasted pig for a party a few years ago but it was not a suckling pig. It was probably 70 kilograms. I couldn’t stand the sight or smell of raw pork for 2 months afterwards. The suckling pig looks delicious and I love the Peking variation.
Ohhhh, to die for! I’ve always wanted to try suckling pig. What a magnificent and droolworthy feast.
Cheers,
Rosa
I have had suckling pig! My family regularly gets a small pig and spit roasts it. It’s done much more simply than this. My dad salts the pig the day before and lets it sit for 24 hours. Then on the early morning of the party, he lights some coals and begins the spit roasting. He bastes the pig with a salt brine solution throughout the cooking (about 5 hours). SO succulent and delicious.
But thank you for this recipe because I’d love to invite them over for something completely different that will either blow their minds or disappoint them incredibly! lol
We had suckling pig when travelling through Spain. It wasnt my favourite dish…but Mr BBB loved it!
I have tried suckling pig in Italy where it is quite common. I always feel sorry when I see the little bones left on the plate.
I’ve had suckling pig but don’t think I could cook my own. To be honest I was a little freaked out by the whole pig in the photos – I think the eyes are staring at me. Having said that the food looks delicious and I definitely would have eaten it all with gusto!
How fabulous, I’ve had suckling pig several times on trips to Hong Kong but it is not easy to buy here. We had planned to have one for Christmas but because of the law here they are quite big before they can be removed from the mother. It wouldn’t fit in my oven. It looks totally delicious. We will have to BBQ spit roast one in the summer. GG
hmmmm… crackling, love it!
What a feast! I am loving the bbq pork steamed buns, the curry and that ice cream brownie sandwich! poor piggy but im sure piggy tasted delishhh
The suckling pig looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing Lorraine. Will definitely have to try it out with some friends.
I’m half Tongan so whole spit roasted pigs are pretty typical for any celebration. I don’t know why people get put off with the look of a whole pig though – people eat whole roast chickens!
Can I just say that the pig is the happiest pig ever? Did anyone else notice that it was smiling?
So adorable – it’s nice to see that the pig you’re eating obviously had a good life.
Sounds and looks absolutely delicious. Thats quite a process involved – massaging with a skin rub, hot water bath, drying/resting, sauna…this is starting to sound familiar. Last time I had a sauna thankfully my skin did not crisp up:)
I tried suckling pig when I was in Spain last year. I couldn’t bring myself to order it but tried a bit of Will’s.
When my mum was very little, her much older, Spanish brother-in-law was trying to convince her to try suckling pig (they were in Spain). He thought the cute angle might convince her so while lifting it’s tail said ‘look how cute with his little bottom who opens.’ Every time I hear suckling pig I think about that. You have to say it in a Spanish accent.
Oh my goodness, what a post! You go to so much effort. It must be very time consuming.
I’ve never had suckling pig.
I’d want to save room in my tummy – so I’d only want to eat the pig, coleslaw and I’d want that banana ice-cream brownie if I could eat gluten!
OMG YUM!
SO many piggy shots! And it ends up so shiny…?!
Oh wow, that looks amazing.
I don’t usually eat pork (it doesn’t like me) but that I would pig out on!
What a great dining experience!! I have never had suckling pig, but I’d love to try it
Piggy piggy piggy POARK
omnomnomnomnom
(that is all)
Teehee, I’m so predictable! What I really want is everything apart from the pig. The desserts! The desserts! The curry! The desserts!
Although there’s something fun about seeing a bit of what I read about in The Little House in the Big Woods as a child
Oh what a fab post
! Miss-Piggy-that-was is sitting as my computer background as I type – since it does have NQN on the pic, I hope you don’t mind. Suckling pigs were mother’s milk for me naturally in N Europe for Christmas, baked in plainer style, and accompanied by sauerkraut, roast potatoes and rolls and rolls of black pudding and blood cakes – fabulous 
! Used to get into trouble forever for playing with its tail and snout and trying to pick the skin off ere the meal – ouch on my bottom 
! Haven’t had it with the Asian touch as yet tho’! Looks wonderful: but, ooh the price! Altho’ I do not celebrate Christmas, shall have a couple of seafood meals around the time, the main one planned being scallops baked with za’atar: should be yum . .
I feel so hungry when I read this post, yum yum yum!
Thanks for the warning! Look, I am a meat eater but I don’t like seeing whole suckling piglets! A case of not wanting to eat anything with a face. I skimmed a few pictures, and they’re great as always!
Piggy looks delicious but I will leave this to the experts. I have never tried suckling pig, and it won’t be this Christms!
Is there nothing better in life than suckling pig with mahogany cracklin’ skin? I think not! I know people get a bit squeamish about the cute pig. But I swear, one taste and all that goes out the window. It’s just THAT good.
I passed by dragon rest. In hk and saw something like this too.
Wow again. I could enjoy this meal down to the last dessert. I’m impressed Lorraine that you gave the recipe and even more impressed that one of your readers is going to try it.
So interesting to see how the get that glass finish on the skin of a suckling pig!
What a feast, but honestly those desserts have me super excited too. Great to see Bungalow 8 has revamped its menu
(I’ve been so busy at work and home that I’m very behind in reading your blog posts. Eek sorry
)
My dad makes suckling pig – Portuguese style which is delicious (i have been told) and although i could eat it when i was little – i just can’t bring myself to eat it now
the Caramelised lime Tart with Tahitian vanilla cream looks Yummm
Wow, quite a feast with the whole suckling pig!
What a beautiful pig! I’ve done a couple of pigs–a bit bigger than this but never got such wonderful skin. Thanks for the recipe.
This is very similar to the Philippines’ lechon (roast suckling pig). But since I am Chinese also, I appreciate a “Peking-style” version – with steamed buns and pancakes! Wish I was there…
I’m in two minds about this. On one hand, it saddens me and I want to become a vegetarian, on the other hand, I do love pork and crackling. I think its the face that would shock me :/
This recipe looks amazing (I love the idea of the Peking-duck style of cooking and serving it), but I have to admit that the pictures make me squeamish. A little too real for me, though I have eaten suckling pig and enjoyed it on several occasions (I didn’t have to look too closely at the piglet itself though).
This year it will be turkey with friends, then a ham at home.
and here I am in Saudi Arabia where not even a sniff of bacon is allowed – torture!
I must admit that I did feel guilty enjoying your images – so soemthing must be rubbing off on me and I was glad no one could see me drooling!! LOL
cheers from SB
Oh dear, I felt so sorry for Miss Piggy. But I must admit that I do love roast pork and suckling pig, but only occasionally and I have to forget about where it came from. The last time I had it was in Fiji where a whole pig was roasted in a Lovo oven, but the pig was huge and the pork was nowhere near as sweet and tender as I’d imagined. There was no crackling either. So it was easy to go vegie that night, but too late for poor piggie. xo
So, do they keep the eyes in and all?
This post freaks me out a bit I’ll admit. I was never a fan of pork anyway so you didn’t turn me off my favourite meat or anything
Loved the whole post but that pic of the pig in the oven with it’s shiney foil ears and smiley mouth…. is freaking me out.
Ahh, I don’t think there’s anything better than a beautiful golden-skinned suckling pig to grace a festive table. I’d claims dibs on the crackling, but I’m so far away!
woahhh suckling piggy! zomg what an epic and delicious feast!
While I’m sure it was yummy and I admit to eating bacon and ham, I think it’s wrong that this pig barely had a chance at life before it was killed to be served up whole on a table.
Double standards I know but it just seems icky and all kinds of wrong.
I’ve done a couple of whole pigs and even a couple of warthogs but always on a spit cooked low and slow over an open fire. Small my biggest was about 40kgs and fed almost 150 people but my best was a 9kg warthog which with sides fed 25.
What an amazing feast, Lorraine. That pig looks incredible. You guys look like you had a fantastic time!
My dad actually roasted a suckling pig on a spit in our backyard to celebrate my brother’s first birthday – we have a great photo of him brandishing a cleaver over the roasting pig.
We have a fusion Christmas Day with a mixture of British, German, Chinese and Malaysian food – I think I’m down for the turkey this year. If I have enough time and fool-hardy ambition I may attempt the much-lauded Thompson Turkey. It’s been on my To Do List for years
Oh my heavenly PIGGY!!!! I really really am so jealous! This brings back happy memories of childhood dining experiences and grandpa demolishing the pig head… Yayy for Ms Piggy!
This is unrelated but I saw you in Madison today. So excited. I almost shouted out, “It’s Lorraine!” but I held myself back. You had some good tips which I will be taking on board this festive season.
Congratulations!
I love this and find it not pleasant all in the same breath. Miss Piggy is cute, she almost looks to good to eat. Can we see a picture of you in your cheffies NQN?
What an action packed meal. Drooling over the desserts. Mmmmmm. It’s nearly midnight and I’m hungry all over again.
Oh yum, pork is my favourite meat. I’m yet to try suckling pig… one day!
My family is doing brunch this year so i’m making mini ham & cheese croissants & fresh muffins
My Aunte used to roast a suckling pig every year in the fall; I was about 8, I ate way too much skin and was really sick — too rich for an 8-year old. I must say now I am a little squeamish about the reality of the little baby pig, it’s a bit un-nerving. Particularly that photo of Miss Piggy in the oven face outward; is she smiling?
I love suckling pig, I prefer it than the regular pig, is more soft and juicy. We call it “lechon”. What I never did is named it, I cannot eat something with a name. I remember when my Mom had rabbits at home, of course to eat them, but I couldn’t be close to them, I only wanted to see them in my plate.
I can literally imagine the aroma that filled the room.
My system doesn’t tolerate pork very well, but I would love to try this.
Hats off to you and chef George for creating such a beautiful and mouthwatering meal!
An especial thank you to chef George for gracefully sharing his recipes with all of us!
Now I have a question.
Would you have a recipe for the steamed buns?
Cooked suckling pig a few times, last time for a big Slow Food crowd, by the way George is a friend of mine, loved seeing him in your story, he is behind the scenes normally.
OMG!! I’ve always wondered about roasting a whole pig. It’s a long process, but so worth of those delicious crackling feast
The piglet looks really cute, especially when it’s head’s sticking out of the oven and sitting by the fan!!
But dang, it really looks delicious….making me hungry…
i won’t lie–i find the roasted carcass to be a bit off-putting, but not so much that i wouldn’t devour the pork placed on the plate in front of me.
Envy!!! You got the ear. Love suckling pig.
I blame the morphine I’m on for having missed this amazing post! I admit to slight twinges of envy with some of your more exotic posts, but this one brings out serious green monsters!
Christmas for us could well be beans on toast if my shoulder doesn’t improve soon
Awesome! I am cooking suckling pig next week for christmas. I was looking for inspiration as to which way I was going to cook/serve it. Very excited now, I am cooking on a rotisserie, but I am thinking I need to make some steamed buns coleslaw, and chilli caramel now! Thank you for your making my Christmas a joyous one!
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[...] a pig’s head as it has been cut in half vertically) and obviously quite large compared to the suckling pig we had at Bungalow 8 a few weeks earlier. And now is when we make use of the steak knives and the large carving fork [...]
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