Lechon paksiw for days: Ranking Noche Buena leftovers and their afterlives, from worst to best

Food is front and center in Filipino Christmas traditions. Come September you already see bibingka, puto bumbong, and castañas stands perfuming the cold air with their warm, buttery, and nutty smells. Of course, our love affair with festive food culminates in a grand feast on Christmas eve, Dec. 24.

Picture this: a table filled to the last inch with every beloved Noche Buena staple from ham, queso de bola, lechon, to the polarizing fruitcake, and every imaginable viand and dessert in between them.

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But because we Filipinos anticipate even the slightest chance of an extra guest by allotting more food than needed, chances are most of these dishes will not be fully consumed by the end of Noche Buena.

If there’s one thing about us though, it’s that we are also very resourceful with leftovers. Trust that the leftover lechon will be devoured down to the last clinging meat on the bone—even if that takes several days.

The key is ensuring that all food is handled safely before storage, using separate serving utensils, and then keeping them in clean airtight containers. You can find more leftover safe-keeping tips here.

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With that out of the way, let’s go and rank Noche Buena leftovers and their afterlives. And no, there will be no lumpia in this list as we all know that’s gone minutes after it is served.

Fruitcake

This hit-or-miss Christmas staple will likely stay untouched, except if one guest comes out as a fruit cake apologist. Then again, believe it or not, there are plenty of ways to make this liquor-infused cake more palatable. Here’s an idea: Make cake balls out of it.

Pasta and noodles

Noodles are customarily served during celebrations for long life and prosperity though pancit and spaghetti themselves have relatively short shelf lives because of their sauces and accouterments. Nonetheless, you can still keep them in the refrigerator or even in the freezer. You can try and reheat it but it just wouldn’t taste as good.

Macaroni salad

This noodle-salad hybrid can generally withstand days in the refrigerator and may even taste better as the days go by—but that is, of course, also dependent on what you put on it. Cream and other dairy-based ingredients are likely to shorten its shelf life.

Queso de bola

If you handle edam cheese properly, that is if you use a clean knife to cut through it, your queso de bola should last you long. Its sweet, slightly nutty flavor also lends itself to lots of uses post-holidays, from pasta to pastry.

Ensaymada

Fluffy, cheesy, and sweet as they are, sometimes you can still find some ensaymada left behind. Their loss honestly. Toast it the next morning and let that shredded cheese brown and crisp a little, that center warm, and eat it right out of the oven or dunk it in a hot cup of chocolate.

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Ham

You know what? I actually advocate for stashing the ham after Christmas eve. They’re so much better with other things than on their own. Make a ham sandwich, slice it up and put it in an omelet, sprinkle your fried rice with ham bits, and eat it with breakfast pancakes. The possibilities are endless.

Fruit salad, buko pandan, and mango graham

It’s a miracle if there’s even a little left of these Christmas dessert favorites. Lucky for you, they are meant to be frozen, making them likely to last longer—then again, we all know it doesn’t last for long, one scoop leads to another and it ends up in an empty tub.

Lechon

If there’s one thing we will never get tired of following a day of celebration, that is a week of eating lechon leftovers, especially if they are transformed into the saucy, melt-in-your-mouth, and tangy lechon paksiw.

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