Brian Kennett
Amateur Chef and Boozy Traveling Foodie Extraordinaire
Sisig Review: a deep-dive into this most iconic Filipino dish
Sisig Review: The Sizzling Superstar with All the Bits You’d Normally Give to the Dog
Let’s start with the facts: sisig isn’t for polite company or first dates. This is a dish for the bold-hearted, the adventurous, the folks who peek at a pig’s head with the glint of someone who’s already imagining it fried and sizzling. Born in the bars and backstreets of Pampanga, sisig took the “waste not, want not” vibe and hulked out into adulthood as the Philippines’ most sizzling dish—quite literally, because if your ears aren’t ringing as the plate hits the table, you’re doing it wrong – and the dish itself contains a lot of ears… perfect.
Some think “nose-to-tail eating” is a new trend. Filipinos have been doing it with sisig since before hipsters discovered foraging and grubbing. Here’s the deal: pig’s cheeks, ears, snout, and a good dose of liver all chopped, grilled, then sizzled in a way that would make any carnivore’s cholesterol cheer with glee.
Add an egg—ideally cracked and then scrambled tableside—chilli, calamansi, onion, sometimes mayo (purists, look away: including me), and every chewy, crispy, fatty, tangy, spicy note in the playbook comes rushing at you. Sisig is a loud, unashamed, comfort-bomb of a dish.
It is my totally favourite, go to, comfort Filipino food. I just love it. But, wherever you try it, it is different. It morphs and adapts to grannie’s recipe, the barangay style, the region style, and that makes this ever so humble dish just so damned complex. Get it in your life, folks.
I had to do a little segway into one of, if not my totally all-time favourite Filipino dish. The most amazing Sisig, the multi-personality Filipino dish. I don’t know if you ever read my version of this blog for the Thai dish Larb Gai? Well, this is just some exposure to how different the same dish can be. In this case, it is showing differences in the dish on the same island in The Philippines. And the difference is quite exceptional as you will see from the photos.
This is what I love about food. This is not even a regional variance. This is like 200 yards apart variance. So what is Sisig, the multi-personality Filipino dish? A little bit of DaddyPedia here. It’s a dish from the 17th Century, I kid you not when it got its first mention in a Kapampangan dictionary. It’s usually made from chicken liver and various bits of a pigs head.
Then you normally season it with calamansi, onions, chilli peppers, top it with a raw egg and serve on a sizzling platter. The word, apparently, means to snack on something sour and salad. I stole this from Wikipedia, but man oh man are Filipina’s serious about their food, and Sisig:
“Sisig has been a culinary tradition of Pampanga and the Kapampangan people feel very strongly about it to the point that they declared Sizzling Sisig Babi (pork) as an intangible heritage of Angeles City through a city ordinance.
City Ordinance No. 405, Series of 2017, An ordinance declaring Sizzling Sisig Babi as an intangible cultural heritage of Angeles City, and establishing systems and policies in safeguarding the original recipe of Sizzling Sisig, providing mechanisms of implementation, and for other related purposes.”
WOW!!! Go Sisig!!! You clearly have earned your name on the map!!!
I even had a crack at making my very own version of Sisig, using what I had available at the time. Luncheon Meat and Corned Beef. It came out pretty dam well actually. Have a look HERE AT THE RECIPE if you fancy having a crack. Pretty simple and bloody delicious!!! See what I mean re Sisig, the multi-personality Filipino dish? There is even my version.
First up is this fiery little number. And this is a belter, off the charts good. Jowel, ears, liver, crispy skin bits. It came sizzling like it was on fire. I had this with the occasional dip of native sauce = vinegar, soy, chilli, Calamansi. This was served at one of my favourite places in Tagbilaran. Eaten whilst sitting with family, overlooking the sea, full of locals chatting away, and of course with an icy cold San Mig. Yes, this is heaven!
Sisig The Sizzle Heard ’Round the World
Ordering sisig in the Philippines is a rite of passage. There’s theatre in that scalding, spitting cast-iron plate. Waiters arrive at your table like emergency responders, shields up, as the first whiff of pork and citrus hits the air. It’s noisy. It’s often messy. It usually draws every table’s gaze within a five-metre radius—half envy, half concern for potential flying bits. You know you’re at the right place when the sizzle sounds like applause.
The best bit? Every pocket of the country claims a personal version. Kapampangan-style, the original, has no eggs and definitely no mayo. Some places serve it crunchy, some creamy, others scorching hot. Heard about bangus sisig (milkfish) or even tofu sisig for the faint of heart? Yes, the dish is as versatile as a karaoke playlist after the second beer. At Jolly Jeeps in Makati or pulutan dives by Manila Bay, it’s one-part snack, two-parts drinking companion.
Unassuming little hawker type restaurant in Tagbilaran City, Luisa Gallery Shopping Centre. And here she is Fiesta Bol-anon Cuisine. Everything is cracking here and so so cheap, but I am in for the Sisig.
A Sisig Feast for All Senses
Sit down at Aling Lucing’s in Angeles, where it’s said all this fuss began, and you’ll see bulldog-faced pork resting atop a mound of onions, all bouncing on orange-hot cast-iron. The aroma is a slap: pork, charcoal, smoke, a whisper of vinegar, sometimes a suspicious amount of crunchy cartilage.
Chopped finer than the British tabloid’s approach to political nuance, everything melds into something you can scoop up with a spoon or, for the proud, press into a roll of rice like you’re assembling a chubby, misshapen maki.
Sisig lands somewhere between bar snack and full-blown family meal. It asks nothing more than your willingness to eat with gusto, ignore the gentle scalding of your tongue, and argue about the ideal pig-to-onion ratio. Drown with a cold San Miguel Beer, or, if you lack beer, sweet pineapple juice that is probably more dangerous for your teeth than the pork itself.
Next up we are off to The Bellevue Resort, on Panglao Island. This is yet another sublime version of Sisig. Maybe tailored a little more to the Western palate with roast pork belly and crackling in there, with not so much pig ears and liver. Anyway, whatever it is a really really good Sisig. A must try if you happen to stay at the hotel, and by the way what a hotel it is.
Next stop is The BBC, AKA Bohol Beach Club. This place is VERY exclusive You can’t just rock up here for lunch, you can’t use the beach etc. You have to be staying here. The food was really very good, I loved the Bulalo served on a hot skillet – more of that on another blog. But I did go Sisig this day. Nicely done, even with your own guy prepping at the tableside. A very nice touch BBC.
Sisig From Pampanga to International Fame
Sisig is now a Filipino calling card well outside the archipelago. Food trucks in LA, hipster bars in Melbourne, street fairs in Hong Kong—all want a piece of the sizzle. There are “modern” takes: pulled pork sisig tacos in Brixton, plant-based sisig somewhere in Makati that probably made three grandmothers faint, and yes—sisig pizza, which belongs in the annals of human invention alongside the wheel and the karaoke machine.
But nothing, truly nothing, beats the wok’s furious heat of a proper Filipino carinderia. It’s here that pig knuckles and jowls are respected, onions are never skimped, and calamansi is lobbed in with a liberal wrist. No two plates the same, no two experiences identical, yet everyone leaves with that joyous fat-and-acid afterglow.
Sad to say though BBQ, ‘Aunty’ let you down on your Sisig. It was not so good. I had to return the first one to ask them to cook it more and crisp the pork more. They sent a new one and pretty much did the same. It was gooey and slimy. It’s the only way I can describe it. Not good BBC. I will not be ordering that again from The BBC. Last on my list for this trip. “Needs Improvement” is your scorecard.
Sisig Crunch, Snap, Crackle, Glorious Fat
You’ll be surprised how a well-cooked sisig manages to be both chewy and crisp. It’s a textural circus: cartilage, skin, and meat, interspersed with surprise crunches and the sneaky punch of bird’s eye chillies scattered throughout. The egg, melting and binding, brings a silkiness that somehow makes the pork taste even more porky. Sprinkle a little chicharron on top if you’re feeling fancy (or just reckless), then bathe in the chorus of “Hmm, that’s so good” that erupts across the table.
For the record: mayo versus no mayo is a debate that can end friendships. I like both, but let’s be honest—sometimes you’re in the mood for greasy “death by cholesterol”, sometimes silky “death with dignity”. Either way, both end with a smile and a doctor’s warning.
And the final one for this trip was at yet another absolutely stunning location. The very first hotel I ever stayed at in The Philippines. Much has changed there since then, but one thing remains it is a wonderful resort hotel, in a stunning part of the world that also happens to serve some of the best food ever. This is the very hotel that Chef Raphael used to be Executive Chef at before creating his own place, Smoque Bistro & Bar.
The Sisig does not disappoint. It’s a stunner. Nicely spicy this one. Crispy fat lumps too as you can see from the photo. Yeah, this one is top drawer and should be something you must try if dining at The Amorita. Oh yeah, mandatory is that you have an icy cold Pilsen with this. You just must!
Why Sisig is a National Treasure (with a Wicked Streak)
There’s no such thing as a quiet sisig feast. The plate demands conversation, stories, the most ridiculous dares, declarations of love, or perhaps a heated exchange about whether adding crispy pork skin breaks international law. It arrives loud, stays long, and disappears suddenly, leaving only some oil stains, singed eyebrows, and general, pork-induced happiness.
What’s the true measure of sisig? It’s the only dish where you’ll see septuagenarian aunties and slick-haired teenagers fighting for the last seriously crunchy bit. It’s for cold, rainy days and humid, sticky afternoons alike—a porky, tangy, celebration of being alive. It’s food that laughs with you. A party on the plate and a glorious mess for all involved.
So there you have it, folks. One of my all-time favourite food dishes from The Philippines. Sisig, the multi-personality Filipino dish. This would absolutely be on my death-row cuisine list. Maybe not the one from The BBC though. It’s so simple, but versatile in the same breath. I have eaten tonnes of this and every single version has been different. For this trip, I really liked the cheapest and more traditional version from Fiesta.
In fact crazily cheap and good all in one. Great work you guys – just stunning. So if you happen to be in Bohol and/of Panglao you have a few recommendations above of where to get your Sisig fix. Get in a tricycle and get chomping. Here’s hoping you do, and here’s hoping you do! ENJOY!!!
Sisig Final Thoughts: The Plate That Started a Thousand Sizzles
Sisig is not just a plate of food; it’s a recruitment tool for Filipino friendship. You eat it sitting low, hunched forward, prepared for a faceful of steam and a mouthful of porky fire. If offered a second helping—you say “yes” first, regret later. For every region, family, or cook, there’s a sisig story, a tweak, a disputed method. But there’s never any dispute about eating. Fast is the only speed.
Don’t approach sisig with a plan for moderation. The sizzle will outwit you, the crackle will seduce you, and the citrusy sharpness will remind you why you’re sitting surrounded by friends, drinking cold beer, licking your fingers, and generally ignoring the existence of salad. If you leave the table without at least one oil stain, a questionable story, and a slow moan of satisfaction, you haven’t done it right.
In short: go find some. Order two. Bring friends. And when in Pampanga, pay homage to the pig and the cooks who looked at a pile of unwanted bits and thought, “that’ll do nicely.” Sisig is Filipino spirit—unpretentious, clever, fun. And if you ever see it served on anything other than a sizzling plate? Run, don’t walk, in the other direction.