Sisig
Sisig is easily the Filipino dish I would recommend to anyone. If you ever visit the Philippines, you must definitely give it a try, because it is one of the classics that I grew up on. No matter where you are in Philippines, Sisig stays consistently delicious, but they are not all the same. Depending on where you are and who made it, you’ll get differing variations. There could be squid, tuna, pig ears, bangus, liver or even tofu in your sisig. There was this one time I was at Palawan, where I got try crocodile Sisig. That was the first, and hopefully not the last time, because that was immaculate, but nothing compares to simple pork sisig though.
Ingredients
Pork sisig is my all time favorite iteration of this Filipino staple. Every time my family visited the Philippines, pork sisig was a must. It slowly became a tradition as it brought my relatives over around a sizzling plate of pork sisig. Even though there so many variations, common parts used for pork sisig are pork belly or cheeks and pork ears. How it is prepared is really where each version of this dish differs from each other.
Preparation
Boiling the pork belly before frying is a must! This may be known as hot/warm brining as you will be adding ingredients such as salt, onion, green onion, garlic, lemon, lemongrass, bay leaves, and black pepper. This process should be no longer than 45 minutes.
The most popular way of pork sisig was adapted from the Sisig queen herself, Lucia Cunanan from Papanga. She popularized the method of boiling, grilling, and frying the pork. This seems to be the consensus in all of the recipes out there. Out of her recipes, I adapted a much more feasible approach with only boiling and frying the pork. I found that boiling and frying is a must. Boiling ensures the the pork is tender, juicy and flavorful while frying ensures it is crispy. Although grilling is not included in my recipe, one would have to insure they use charcoal to get the most smoky taste.
Seasoning
I used a mixture of red onion and white onion. Although they are both onions, they both have different taste and smell. It also adds a contrast of colors to the plate. For the heat, I added a mixture of jalapenos and siling labuyo. If you plan to reduce the heat, you can substitute the jalapenos with green bell peppers. I seasoned with soy sauce, calamansi juice, salt and black pepper (to taste). Once it has been completely seasoned, heat up a cast iron and apply butter(or margerine). Serve it hot and sizzling with an egg.
Pork Sisig
Ingredients
Boiling
- 2 lbs pork belly
- 5 cups of water
- 1/2 onion
- 2 green onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 lemon
- 2 lemongrass base
- 3 bay leaves
- 1.5 tbsp of salt
- 1 tbsp of black pepper
Seasoning
- 1/2 onion
- 1/2 red onion
- 3 jalapenos
- 2 siling labuyo
- 2 tbsp of soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of calamansi juice
- black pepper
- salt
- butter/margerine
- egg
- 1 siling labuyo
- 1 lime
Instructions
- Prepare all the ingredients for boiling. Slice the onion in half and save the other half for later. Crush the garlic and slice the green onion stalks into 3 pieces. Then slice the lemon in half, and prepare 2 lemongrass bases.
- With a deep stock pot, boil the water. Once it starts to boil on high heat, add the onion, green onion, garlic, lemon, lemongrass, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
- Boil the the pork for 45 minutes to an hour. Once finished, dry it with paper towels and set it aside for at least an hour in the fridge.
- Then start poking holes in the skin of the pork belly.
- Start heating up a deep cooking pot. Fry the pork belly for 6-8 mins at 350 °F or until desired crispiness.
- Start chopping the fried pork belly into small pieces as well as the onions, red onion, jalapenos, and siling labuyo. Add the soy sauce, calamansi juice, black pepper, and salt.
- Heat up a skillet with butter and serve with an egg, siling labuyo, and lime.
Video
Notes
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If you are interested in more Filipino dishes, make sure to check out other popular recipes for lumpia, kaldereta, inihaw na liempo, and pork bbq.
