Destination
Manila
The story
Sisig is the Philippines' most iconic bar food and the pride of Pampanga — a province in central Luzon known as the country's culinary capital. The dish is a virtuoso display of nose-to-tail cooking: pig's face (maskara), ears and jowls are boiled, chopped very fine, then charred hard on a very hot cast-iron plate with onion, ginger, chili, calamansi juice and a splash of soy sauce. Served on the same screaming-hot plate — the sisig arrives at the table still sizzling and steaming — with a raw egg cracked over the top and stirred through as the plate cools, plus a squeeze of calamansi and a small dish of mayonnaise (a modern touch) on the side. Eaten with cold beer and a scoop of rice.
Method
In a large pot, combine pork, onion, garlic, bay, peppercorns, salt and water. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, then simmer 90 minutes until the meat is fully tender. Add the liver in the last 15 minutes if using.
Lift the pork out and cool completely on a rack (30 minutes). This is essential — hot pork mashes when you chop it. Once cool, chop the pork into 5mm dice with a heavy sharp knife. Chop the liver even smaller.
Warm 2 tbsp of the oil in a wide heavy pan over the highest heat. Add the chopped pork in a single layer. Do not stir for 3 minutes — let it catch and crisp. Then toss and cook another 5 minutes until deeply browned and crispy at the edges.
Push the pork to one side of the pan. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil and the chopped onion, garlic and ginger to the empty side. Cook 3 minutes until softened. Add the chopped chilies. Mix everything together.
Add the soy sauce, calamansi juice, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Toss for 2 minutes until every piece of pork is coated and the liquids have reduced to a glaze.
Meanwhile, heat the empty cast-iron sizzling plate(s) over a high flame or in a hot oven for 5 minutes until screaming hot — you should feel serious heat radiating from 30cm away.
Divide the pork mixture among the hot sizzling plates. The plate will roar with steam and sizzle. Immediately crack a raw egg onto the middle of each plate. Top with chopped raw onion, fresh chili and coriander. Serve immediately with calamansi wedges, mayonnaise and rice on the side.
At the table, each diner mixes their egg into the sizzling pork with a spoon — the egg cooks in the residual heat, turning the whole dish into a rich, creamy mixture. Squeeze extra calamansi to taste. Eat with rice and a cold beer.
Tips
- Screaming-hot sizzling plate. This is not decoration. The plate must be hot enough to cook the raw egg on contact. Preheat 5 minutes over high flame.
- Chop small. Five-millimetre dice is the target. Bigger chunks are for a different dish. The classical Kapampangan sisig is chopped fine enough that every bite has all the flavours.
- Cool the pork completely before chopping. Hot pork mashes; cool pork chops cleanly.
- Raw egg is the classical topping. Stir it into the sizzling pork at the table — the residual heat cooks it into a rich sauce. Modern versions add mayo instead of egg; both work.
- Cold beer. This is a beer dish. Not wine, not water. A cold San Miguel or ice-cold Filipino Red Horse beer is the classical partner.
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