Toto Efre
Who doesn’t love sisig? It is one of those dishes that is truly Pinoy.
Everybody eats sisig and for the longest time, sisig has been present on every bars’ top ten most saleable items on the menu. Sisig has come a very long way from the original Kapampangan fare, but if you think deeply, isn’t it your chopped up pork adobo? Not quite
For sure it all originated in the province of Pampanga, and the original recipe calls for pig’s head especially the pork ears. Although a lot of stories have claimed that the origin of the dish is something unique to a particular place, whenever you order sisig it always pays tribute to the cuisine of the Kapampangans.
One story tells that during the American bases era in Clark, there was a surplus of pork head and it was always sold at a very low price. So the people from the area make use of it by boiling its deboned pieces until soft, then grilling it to get a smoky flavor, after which it is chopped and then cooked with vinegar, soy sauce and pepper.
Another story declares that it was the elderly who created the famous dish. They were the old hands in the kitchen; they were fond of cooking the left over from Lechon which was prepared in bulk during fiestas and made it into something edible and preserved it with vinegar for the next few days. Feet were cut up and made into a stew called paksiw, ribs will be made into a soup called sinigang and the head is chopped up to be made into sisig. The reason why they chop it up is because most of the elderly don’t have teeth anymore and doing so makes it easy for them to chew the dish.
Whatever is the real history is not the story anymore; it is how the cooking method or procedure became a mother technique giving birth to so many kinds of sisig and the major rule is chopping it down to little pieces adding some vinegar infused onions and a good amount of black pepper.
I would like to share with you some of my recipes for the famous dish.
Sisig
Ingredients:
500 grams pork ears
200 grams pork liver
100grams pork brain (optional)
1 piece bay leaf
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 whole white onion finely sliced
1/2 cup shallots finely chopped
3-5 pieces birds eye chili
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 cups cane vinegar
Procedure:
- Clean pork ears thoroughly then boil with sliced onions, bay leaf and black pepper until soft. Strain.
- Grill pork ear until brown and smoky. Set aside.
- Sprinkle a little salt over pork liver then grill until done.
- Dice pork ears and liver. Set aside.
- Mix shallots, cracked black pepper and vinegar and reduced until half.
- Mix chopped pork ears and liver with the reduced vinegar.
- Saute a little more until dry, season with soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Add chili’s up to desired spiciness
Optional
- Poach pork brains until done and toss it over hot sisig.
- Serve on a sizzling plate top with pork chicharon or pork cracklings.
- Make sisig spring roll by wrapping it in a spring roll wrapper, then deep fry. Serve hot and crispy.
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Tuna Sisig
Ingredients:
1 cup tuna trimmings, small dice
1 tsp. garlic
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
¼ cup vinegar
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. liquid seasoning
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
½ tsp. salt
½ tbsp. cracked peppercorns
½ tsp. soy sauce
½ tsp. chili powder
1 ½ tsp. corn oil
Procedure:
- Simmer onions, vinegar and pepper together until vinegar is reduced and onions are cooked. Set aside. **So that Sisig will not be watery.
- Marinate tuna with Worcestershire sauce, liquid seasoning, chili powder and oyster sauce. Season with salt and pepper before sautéing.
- In a pan, sauté garlic with corn oil over high heat, add vinegar-infused onions.
- Add tuna and stir fry. Do not over cook tuna because it will dry up.
- Serve immedietly
Optional
- Serve it with leafy lettuce and some cucumber and for a touch of freshness
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Sisig Tahong
Ingredients:
1 cup mussel meat, cooked and chopped
3 tbsp onions, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ginger, grated
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tbsp patis
Dash white wine
salt and black pepper
Procedure:
- In a hot pan, sauté garlic, onions, and ginger.
- Add in mussels, wine and vinegar, then reduce until dry.
- Season with salt and black pepper and patis.
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