PUERTO RICO LEGENDARY "PORK HIGHWAY" La Ruta del Lechón FOOD TOUR

Oh, look at this. This happens a lot here in South Florida. Bright sunshine and rain. Hey everybody, it's Mike Chen. Hopefully you are doing well out there. Like I said, I am here in South Florida, Miami to be exact. About to head out to an exquisite buffet. I didn't know this. There's so many brunch buffets right here in Miami. Only problem is most of them only have it on Saturdays and Sundays. So these two days, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Anyway, the video we're about to see was filmed about a month ago in Puerto Rico. I wanted to go there ever since I heard about the Pork Highway. When I saw an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer, where he said that was the best roast pig he's ever had in his life. So ever since, been wanting to go and just a big check off the food bucket list. But before we get to that, a big thank you and shout out to the sponsor of this video, Athletic Greens. So I've been using this for several months now. 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It's Mike Chen here in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Today is the day. This is the number one food reason why I am in Puerto Rico. I watched an episode, I think, of Bizarre Foods many, many, many years ago. Where Andrew Zimmern went on the stretch of highway called Pork Highway. Where everybody sold whole entire roast pigs, lechons. Ever since I saw him take that first bite, couldn't get it out of my mind. Finally, today, La Ruta del Lechon, here I come. My first stop, La Chonera Las Pinos. It's about nine o'clock in the morning. They say they open at eight. Let's see if there's a pig ready. Alright, so they have way more stuff than just lechon. Grabbed a tray full of food. And before I dig in, my lechon journey in Puerto Rico, I actually started before this. When I was on the island of Vieques, just driving by on my scooter. All of a sudden, smell something in the air. Smell some smoke on the side of the road. And this is what I ran into. Morning. Last full day here on this island. Just been driving around looking for food. Drove by this place on the side of the road. Check it out, check it out. Giant lechon. Fresh out of the cooker. Oh, thank you. Oh my gosh. Just gave me a piece with skin and fat. Oh my god. Oh, this is burning hot right now. Fresh out of the oven, look at this. Sizzling, crispy skin right here. Obligatory pig hair on there as well. Look at this. All juice. Look how beautiful this is. I bet you, listen to this. When I get back to San Juan, I want to go to Pork Highway. A highway where they just cook lechon. But this is such a beautiful preview. Putting everything up right now. Let's go take a look. So, waited here for about an hour. They're sold out. People were waiting for a long long time before I got here. So yeah, it's sold out. There's nothing left. At least I got to taste a piece. Now I'm just looking forward to Lechon Highway in San Juan. But that was a good pig. Oh well, next time. Actually, they just came over and gave us little pieces that were left from where they were keeping their pig. Still a lot of good pieces of meat here. These guys are so nice. So nice. Such a beautiful piece of chicharron. With fat. Crispy. Melting in your mouth. One crunch, all that great juice from the pigs just flows everywhere. Let me show you guys what I got. Look at this. Tray of food. This is the pork rib. Oh, look how succulent that is. What? Plastic fork just breaks. Oh my goodness, this looks so tender and juicy. Wow. Tamale with shredded pork inside. I got some pieces of roast chicken. Oh wow. I'm not usually into chicken, but look at the crispy skin on this thing. That is so pretty. Blood sausage, of course. You're not going to go to a lechon place and not get blood sausage. Some liver with olives. This is the stomach, the tripe. And here it is, the lechon fresh out of the oven. They roast this for six hours. And just look at it glisten. All that nice fat covering the meat and all this juice. You can see it oozing out when I lightly press it with my fork. Of course, this is the highlight. The thin, bubbly, crispy skin. Toasted to a golden, almost translucent color, bubble inside the skin will tell you that this thing will just crunch and melt in your mouth. A layer of fat that you know is just going to flood your taste buds. And you know this thing is going to be crunchy. Look at that. This one comes with some nice meat underneath the skin to give you some different texture. A little bit of chew. This is a food dream come true. I still remember in my head the scene where Andrew Zerman crunched down on the skin. He said this is the best pork he's ever had. Ever since that moment, I've been dreaming about my moment here with this. I think I got to start slow. I'm going to start with some liver. This is so good! This itself is already so good. I love liver. I love the organic flavor. This thing, nothing gave me a batter. Just delicious organic meat. With potatoes cooked in as well. Oh, that flavor steeped into that potato nicely. The broth's a little spicy. I'm going to take a sip of this. Haven't got to the lechon yet. Already so good. Something I never pass up on. And hopefully unlike the 70s, it doesn't have too much funk. That is clean. This thing is not funky at all. I love a little tripe for that nice chewy texture. Dip it in some hot sauce. If you like tripe, I highly recommend this. Bite on a drumstick. Chicken flavor is good. A little drier than I thought, especially because I got a thigh piece. I thought it'd be a little juicier. But you're able to taste that nice smoke. The flavor's fantastic. Oh, blood sausages. One of my favorite things. Get yourself some blood sausages. I think it has such an amazing earthy flavor. Plus they put a little spice in here as well. The casing is nice and snappy. Oh, that's good. Do not come here without getting some of these. I feel like I'm going to try to rush everything because I just cannot wait to put the lechon in my mouth. But I still got some barbecue ribs to try. Alright, barbecue rib was good. Some piece a little dry. Let's just get to the star attraction. What I like to do, just start with the best part right here. Usually I like to save the best for last, but this thing's just been sitting there shimmering at me like a glowing sunset. That was a bite about maybe about 10, 12 years into making and it did not disappoint. I mean, you heard that crunch, right? That was loud enough to activate an avalanche and chased it with some juicy, tender meat. If you're ever making barbecue out to Puerto Rico, please come here and do what I just did. That piece of skin, once you crunch down, it just dissolves into this yummy, porky liquid that completely coats your tongue and your taste buds and all you want to do is just shove another piece of that in your mouth. And the meat, how juicy is this? It tastes so clean and tender. I almost like that as much as the skin. Best thing to get here, 100% of the charm. Get the blood sausage. If you like organs, get the liver. And if you like tripe, I 100% recommend this. Alright, I'm going to savor this meal and then I'm going to hit up a couple more places. This pork highway trip's not over. Oh, thank you. What's your name? Tomas and Ricky. This is your dad. You guys own this place. How long have you guys been doing this? 28 years. And this is your special hot sauce. Oh, I'm going to try this out. Thank you. Wow, they just gave me a bottle. Look at this hot sauce. Family recipe. Cannot wait to put this on the pig. Drizzle that on the lechon. Oh my god. Can I just drink this straight from the bottle? Vinegary and spicy. Oh, that spice is burning me just now. My throat is on fire. Tomas, you are not joking with this hot sauce. I love it. Perfect balance with the fattiness of the pork. This will help you eat more. I'm going to put this in my tripe. I wish I saved some of my blood sausages to dip it in this. Also, they're going to show me where they roast the pigs. Wow, here we go. Oh, that is beautiful. How many of you guys cook a day? Around 12. 12 a day? In all these ovens? Yes, sir. This one, we do it in charcoal. We do it on gas so it can keep up. So it can keep up with the demand. That is beautiful. So you guys have been doing this 28 years. You see the giant size the pigs are cooking in those ovens. What I love most about it, family-run. They're all passionate about what they do. Also, Anthony Bourdain came here. Love eating in the footsteps of my food heroes. Ricky, so kind. Thanks so much, man. Thank you so much for your hospitality. Your family runs an amazing business and I'm glad I'm finally able to taste it. Lechon number two. This is fun. Just going up and down this highway, tasting different lechon. This is from El Rancho Original. Oh, this looks good. This tin doesn't really have much fat on the other side. More of a thinner, porky chip. Ah, there we go. There's a piece of fat on the back. I never get sick going to all these lechon restaurants, watching them chop the pig, hearing the thump of that machete. Just cause my heart pounded. Oh, oh, that's so nice. I mean, just listen to that. That is so incredibly light. I like the piece with the fat on there more. More flavor, more juice when you crunch down on it. If you like pork rinds, find yourself a good lechon restaurant, and just crunch down on some of this stuff. Oh, it's just like salsa to kind of just dip this in. The meat is so juicy as well. Also, this whole area is so cool. When you're driving along this road, of course you smell the lechon. You see all these great lechon restaurants. They're places where you can buy souvenirs, you can buy drinks. I've never had more piña coladas until I came to this island. I think this is just such a fun way to spend half a day. Just driving around, stopping at random lechon restaurants, eating, hanging out with the locals, listening to some music. I always imagine what my experience would be like once I make it over here. Reality, definitely exceeded expectation. Back in the city now, that was quite a day. Ate at the two lechon places that Anthony Bourdain went to and Andrew Zimmern went to. Yeah, another huge item checked off the food bucket list. Now, again, back in the city at this restaurant called La Cueva Del Mar. Heard great things about this place. Oh, they just brought over the fresh red snapper. These are, what, you guys just got them from the market today? No, actually from the ocean. From the ocean today? It just came out? It was actually from the ocean. Wow. Looks great. Can we get that one? Yeah? Sure. Nice, nice, nice. Thank you so much. I like that. They show you the fresh fish before it's cooked. So, this is the fish stew. They recommend adding some lime and some spicy avocado sauce. Also, got the empanada. Look at this. Just cutting this open, geyser erupted from this little thing. Look how juicy this is. This is a steak empanada. Oh, this is tremendous. Wow. I'm gonna have some of this spicy avocado sauce on this thing too. Oh my god. Oh, that spicy avocado sauce, the best thing ever. Oh, remember, get this when you come here. Wow. Oh, this is amazing. Empanada's soft and flaky. The meat, again, just juicy. It's tender. It's stuffed in there. Try this fish stew here. Ooh. Oh, that is nice. Definitely needs some citrus. Really clean fish flavor. Very light and comfortable in the stomach. You add the lime for some citrus, add the avocado sauce for a little heat. This is a delicious starter. It doesn't fill you up, but it satisfies you. It's so nice here. It brought a little conch for me to taste. Oh, this is good. Oh, yeah. Every bite. Loving it so far. And the main dish is having arrived yet. Thank you. Wow. Oh, wow. Thank you, Hector. Thank you so much. Food is here, and it is glorious. Ooh. Fresh red snapper. This is their version of fried rice. Also, mofongo with chicken and skirt steak. So, sauce goes onto the red snapper. Oh, if you're ever in San Juan, come here and get that. Oh, snapper itself. So tender and juicy. The meat is absolutely perfect. This chili, this red sauce, base of tomato, some onions, provides a little sweetness, a little acidity. The outside's a little crispy. Inside, it's just pure tenderness. Mmm. Oh, that is good, too. Creamy beans inside the rice. Nice and toasty on top. Mmm. Bring on the spicy avocado sauce. I think this is ketchup mayo. What I really like, though, oh, this avocado sauce. Dump that, dump that fish in there. Mmm. Oh, wow. This might be one of my favorite sauces I've found this out of. Everything's so good. Then the mofongo with cheese sauce on top, skirt steak and chicken. There's a lot of sauce. Mmm. I think this is the best mofongo I've had on this island so far. Oh, this is so good. Oh, this is delicious. Fried on the outside, creamy on the inside. Steak is so tender, too. Mmm. The chicken is delicious. Oh, the cheese sauce just ties everything together. So, so happy with this. Of course, a little avocado, spicy avocado for good measure. Mmm. Oh, that's too good. 100% the most flavorful mofongo I've had on this island. Of course, eating fish the Chinese way, you cannot flip it over. And this is something good to know for New Year's. Especially during the New Year's, you cannot flip a fish over. The character for fish in Chinese is yu, which means plentiful. So Chinese people believe if you flip it over, you're gonna be flipping over your fortune. Then don't be flipping over your fortune. Just take the gong out and eat like that. Also, what I love about this mofongo, I think a little bits of pork runs in here. Do not let this cheese sauce go to waste. This is a perfect combination. A little seafood, relatively light. And this mofongo to satisfy whatever food craving you're having. Awesome food day today. One more stop. That's right, Krispy Kreme donuts. Because there's some flavors they only have here in Puerto Rico. You think after a day of eating you'd be full, but still hungry. I tried to go to a local pizza place, packed full of people. The wait was like an hour. So, oh, oh no. Thin crust dominoes with pepperoni, my favorite dominoes pizza. But is it me or I feel like the thin crust is ruined if you don't cut it into squares or rectangles. Like slices, it's just not. Oh, I feel like dominoes thin crust, you can't cut it like this. Am I the only one that feels this way? Still good, just the wrong shape. Krispy Kreme, Puerto Rican only flavors. Tres Leche, cheese and guava, Nutella. Usually, I'm not a big donut guy. I love Krispy Kreme though. I love it. Especially flavors you can't find in other places. Oh, this looks good. Oh, this is so nice. This is one of the best Krispy Kreme I've ever had. So milky and creamy. And the guava and cheese. So good. This thing is fruity and cheesy. I think the flavor most resembling a tropical island, this is it. Also, this island is so cool. Everywhere you go, people are so friendly, so talkative, so eager to help because I don't know any Spanish. Big shout out to Hector at the restaurant today, helping me out with the food orders. Tomorrow, my final full day here. Gotta tell you, a little sad to be leaving. But almost New Year's. Gotta head back to New York, see the family, spend a few days doing absolutely nothing, which is my favorite thing to do. This video will probably publish after New Year's, so hopefully everybody had a good one. And hopefully 2022, much, much better than the last two years. As always, all the playlists I went to are listed down below for you guys. Thank you all so much for watching. Until we eat again, I'll see you later.