The Origin Story Of The Philippine’s Favorite Comfort Food – Sisig
SISIG – This Filipino dish can be found anywhere in the Philippines, and is arguably one of the most popular Pinoy dishes along with Adobo.
Sisig is a dish served on a sizzling hot-plate that contains parts of a pig’s ear, snout, cheeks, and belly. It’s sauteed with onions, vinegar, garlic, and chicken liver.
Although there is no exact recipe for the sisig, the style of cooking remained the same. It a three-part cooking process that starts off with boiling the pig parts, grilling them, and finally frying.
This Filipino dish is something that could bring any Pinoy to feel as if they’re back home. But, did you know that the dish didn’t even include pork, to begin with?
According to a video by the Food Insider, Sisig was originally a vegan dish. It was a salad that included vegetables and fruits mixed with vinegar paste that was meant to be very sour.
There are many theories as to how the pork sisig originated but the most popular notion was during the American occupation of the Philippines during the late 1800s.
American Naval Forces would throw out left over pig parts that they wouldn’t use for cooking. Parts like the pig head, which Filipinos didn’t want to waste.
Eventually, the Filipino ingenuity kicked in and they created a dish out of it. They thought wasting the pig heads was absurd.
Initially, the original sisig was just boiled pig parts that were soaked in vinegar. However, during the late 1960’s a barbeque owner from Pampanga, Aling Lucing, revolutionized the dish.
She was the one that started the three-part cooking method for sisig. From there, the dish craze began to spread all over the country like wildfire.
Up to this day, the Filipino’s love for sisig still remained. And because there is no one exact recipe for sisig, each area you go to withing the country has a unique take on the dish.
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