If you enter a Filipino restaurant in Dubai, most likely you will find sisig in the menu. This is a popular Pinoy dish that is usually made of minced pork, chopped onion, and chicken liver, although alternative ingredients like seafood may also be used.
Sisig can be eaten as a main dish paired with rice; it can also be enjoyed as an appetizer or finger food, along with a cold glass of beer! The recipe below features pork sisig, which is actually quite easy to prepare. Keep on reading to learn how to make pork sisig!
How to Cook Pinoy Pork Sisig
Sisig originated from Pampanga, the “culinary capital” of the Philippines. Apparently, a 17th-century Kampampangan dictionary had defined the term “sisig” as “salad” and “to snack on something sour,” such as an unripe or half-ripe fruit dipped in salt and vinegar.
Today, the term sisig is also used to refer to a method of preparing meat or fish in a sour liquid, like vinegar or lemon juice. The meat or fish is then seasoned with salt, pepper, and other spices.
For today’s recipe, we’ll be featuring pork sisig, with pork belly and pig ears as the main ingredients. The entire procedure takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes, and the recipe is good for 6 servings. Of course, you can always adjust the amount of ingredients to make more!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly
- 1 lb pig’s ears
- 1/4 lb chicken liver
- 1 piece onion (minced)
- 1 knob ginger (minced)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp chili flakes
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (ground)
- 6 cups water
- 1 piece egg (optional)
- 1 pc lemon or 3-5 pcs calamansi (optional)
Procedure
- Pour the water into a cooking pot, bring to a boil, then add salt and pepper.
- Put the pork belly and pig’s ears into the pot and let simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until tender.
- Removed the boiled meat from the pot; be sure to drain excess water.
- Grill the boiled pork belly and pig’s ears until done.
- Chop the boiled meat into fine pieces.
- In a cooking pan, melt the butter or margarine, add the onions, and cook until the onions are soft.
- Add the ginger and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken liver into the pan, crushing it as it cooks.
- Add the chopped pork belly and pig’s ears and cook for 10-12 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, chili flakes, and garlic powder. Mix well.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the mayonnaise and mix all the ingredients well.
- Transfer the dish into a serving plate. Top with raw egg and some chopped green onions (optional). You may also squeeze in some calamansi or lemon before eating.
- Serve the sisig while it’s hot. Enjoy!
Another option is to serve the sisig in a hot metal plate, making it “sizzle” in front of your guests. Cool!
Different Versions of Sisig
Traditionally, sisig uses pig’s ears and face as the main ingredients, although pork belly and pork shoulders are also commonly used. On the other hand, chicken sisig is also becoming a popular alternative, using chopped chicken thighs instead of pork.
Using seafood as an alternative to pork is also “trending” these days. You may have heard of bangus (milk fish) sisig, tuna sisig, squid sisig, and tahong sisig. For vegans and vegetarians, tofu sisig is considered a more “healthy” version of the dish.
As you can see, sisig is quite easy to prepare, and you can always use chicken, seafood, or tofu as the main ingredient. Meanwhile, if Filipino pork dishes are your favourite, check out this recipe featuring lechon kawali, or deep-fried pork belly. Yum!