Method
- Boil the pork face/ears in salted water with smashed ginger, halved onion, bay leaves and peppercorns for 60 minutes until very tender. Drain. Cool enough to handle.
- Grill or broil the boiled pork over hot charcoal or under a broiler for 6 minutes per side, until the surface is charred and slightly crisp. The combination of boiling and grilling is the Pampanga technique — it produces both tenderness and char.
- Pan-fry the chicken liver in 1 tbsp oil until just cooked through — 4 minutes. Cool.
- Chop both the grilled pork and cooked liver into fine 5mm dice — sisig is finely chopped, not minced. The texture should be uniform.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil and butter in a wide pan over medium-high. Stir-fry chopped onion and chilies for 90 seconds. Add the chopped pork and liver; toss for 3 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, ground pepper and the juice of 4 calamansi. Stir for another 90 seconds — the vinegar should mellow on the heat. Off the heat, fold in mayonnaise. Tip onto a heavy cast-iron plate or sizzling platter set over a flame, crack an egg directly into the centre, and rush to the table while it spits and sizzles. The diner stirs the raw egg into the hot sisig where it sets into ribbons. Eat with rice and beer.
Common questions
Can Sisig be made ahead?
Sisig is best made and eaten the same day, but the components can be prepped earlier — chop and measure the ingredients up to a day ahead, refrigerated separately. Final cooking takes about 90 minutes.
Is Sisig spicy?
Sisig as written is mild to mildly warming — the heat comes from aromatics rather than chili. Add fresh sliced chili or chili oil at the end if you'd like to push it spicier.
Is Sisig vegetarian or gluten-free?
This recipe is suitable for most diets. If you have specific restrictions, the substitutions section in each ingredient note covers the most common swaps.
How hard is Sisig to make at home?
Sisig sits at intermediate difficulty — total time about 120 minutes. The ingredients are not unusual but the timing requires attention.
Can Sisig be scaled up or down?
This recipe is written for 4 servings. To scale, multiply each ingredient proportionally; the cooking times stay the same up to about double the volume. Beyond that, expect to cook in batches because of pan size and heat distribution.
Cultural Note
Sisig comes from Pampanga — the central Luzon province known as the Philippines' culinary capital. The dish was invented in the 1970s by Lucia Cunanan ('Aling Lucing') of Angeles City, who cleverly used the parts of pig (face, ears) discarded by the American Air Force base nearby. The name comes from a much older Kapampangan word meaning 'to eat sour fruit', referring to a citrus-marinated meat dish. Modern sisig adds mayo (controversial but ubiquitous) and the egg-on-a-sizzling-plate presentation. It's drinking food — the dish that lubricates Filipino office Friday-night gatherings.
