This vegan Filipino sisig, a nod to the original, an easy recipe to make, and very delicious. The flavors are a bit complex, it’s smokey, savory, with deep flavors of soy, chiles, acidity from the vinegar, and calamansi. Serve this dish up over a sizzling plate, a side of rice, and an ice-cold beer. You'll have yourself a complete meal.
Back in college, I used to eat sisig a lot. Every weekend night, my friends and I would go out to a nearby bar or carinderia (street food stall), drink, destress from class, and eat a ton of food — especially sisig. The flavors are a bit complex, it’s smokey, savory, with deep flavors of soy, chiles, acidity from the vinegar, and calamansi. I don’t know what it is about, but whenever I went to the bars with my friends, I would always order my own sisig plate. There's something about this dish that just goes well with a nice cold beer, I mean, in my opinion, it's the perfect bar food. Eating this vegan Filipino sisig definitely brings me back to those days.
What is sisig?
This dish originated from Pampanga, a province in the Philippines, and where my dad is from. I won't go into the details of what particular ingredients goes into this dish, it might freak you out. If you’re curious to know, you’ll have to search it up yourself, sorry! The word sisig is actually short for “sisigan”, which means “to make sour”. Back in the day, the kampampangans served sisig as a salad or appetizer.
They used similar ingredients, chopped up, and tossed in anything sour, like vinegar. Think of it as some sort of ceviche, but with pork. It was a simple dish, and is very different to how we know sisig today. Today they grill it, served with mayonnaise, egg, chilis, and served on sizzling plates. And with the help of Anthony Bourdain, sisig made finally made a debut. Now, you see it served at many Filipino restaurants across the nation and around the world.
What’s in vegan sisig?
First of all, I would like to say that there are a lot of vegan sisig that uses tofu and mushrooms. Mine is no different, however, I wanted to keep mine as close to the textures as the original as possible. Sisig is a combination of various textures, such as meaty, crunchy, and fatty. This is what I wanted to achieve. To find the right kinds of textures, I wanted to use different mushrooms that will give similarity to the original.
- Dried wood Ear Mushrooms/Cloud Ear Mushrooms/Black Fungus Mushrooms - These mushrooms are very similar in texture. They’re jelly-like, and chewy-crunchy in texture, which is obviously the “crunch” to the dish.
- Dried shiitake mushrooms - These are more chewy and also add an umami flavor to the dish. The chewy texture will represent the “fattiness” to the dish.
- Tofu - This will be the “meatiness” in the dish. This dish isn’t meant to be super meaty, so when fried, it not only adds more texture, but it also makes this dish fuller.
- Mushroom chicharron - and for fun, I wanted to top this dish off with fried oyster mushrooms. I’ve coated this in cornstarch and deep fried it — it’s fatty, crunchy, and meaty. It’s the perfect combination that brings the dish together. I seriously could not stop snacking on these. Yes, it’s unhealthy, but I don’t get to eat these kinds of food often, despite what you see on my blog!
If you’d tried this recipe out let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @flouredframe and don’t forget to tag me when you create my recipes! Happy Holidays!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Filipino Sisig
Equipment
- Chef's knife
- Chopping Board
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoon
- Measuring cups
- Medium saucepan
- Large saute pan or cast iron pan
Ingredients
Main Ingredients:
- 1 cup dried wood ear mushrooms (see notes)
- 1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms (see notes)
- 4 cups hot water
- 1 medium red onion (roughly diced)
- 5 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 green finger chili pepper (siling haba, thinly sliced, see notes)
- 2-3 Thai red chili pepper (siling labuyo, thinly sliced, see notes)
- 1 block extra firm tofu (diced into small cubes)
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- Oil (for frying)
- Calamansi or lemon (for topping)
Marinade:
- ¾ cup soy sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon liquid smoke (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons coconut vinegar (sukang tuba) ( or white vinegar, see notes)
- 1 ½ teaspoon white sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons calamansi juice or lemon juice (see notes)
Mushroom chicharon (Optional, but tastes great in the dish!):
- 1 cup fresh oyster mushrooms, diced into cubes
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- pinch of salt and black and pepper
Instructions
Prep:
- Add the dry black fungus mushrooms and dried shiitake mushrooms in a medium mixing bowl. Pour in hot water, make sure it is enough to submerge all the mushrooms. Set aside to rehydrate for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, press your tofu to release the excess water. Either use heavy books or a tofu press. Press for about 15-30 minutes, or until most of the water has been released.
- Next, chop up all the vegetables, the fresh oyster mushrooms, red onion, garlic, green finger chili and Thai red chili peppers, and set them aside until ready to use.
- Then, dice the tofu into ½ inch cubes and set aside.
- When the dried mushrooms are fully hydrated, drain the water and quickly run them under cold water. Then, squeeze out the excess water from the mushrooms.
- For the black fungus mushrooms, cut the hard woody center. After, you can continue to chop them, along with the shiitake mushrooms, to ½ inch pieces. Set them aside in a large mixing bowl.
Marinade:
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Add it to the bowl with the rehydrated black fungus mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms.
- Allow the mushrooms to marinate for 20-30 minutes.
Mushroom chicharron:
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together the cornstarch, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
- Toss in the chopped oyster mushrooms with the cornstarch mixture. After, in a large saucepan, preheat enough oil to fry the mushrooms. When the oil is ready, fry the coated oyster mushrooms for about 3-5 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oil, and place them on a cooling rack to drain the oil. Set aside until ready to use.
Cooking the sisig:
- Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil to a large pan, over medium-high heat. When the oil is ready, fry the tofu until golden on all sides. Remove the tofu and set aside over a plate or bowl.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan. When the butter is melted, add in the minced garlic. Sauté until fragrant, don’t burn them.
- Next, add in the onions and sauté until they are soft and translucent.
- Add in the green finger chili peppers and red Thai chili peppers. Sauté it all together for a minute.
- To the pan, add the marinated mushrooms along with sauce, then add in the fried tofu. Mix to combine, and continue to cook until the sauce has evaporated. Remove from heat, squeeze a little bit of calamansi or lemon, top it off with the mushroom chicharron, and serve with rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can find most of these ingredients at your local Asian Supermarket.
- If you can't find wood ear mushrooms, you can sub it for dried fungus mushrooms.
- You can use fresh shiitake, but I find that dried shiitake gives a better texture.
- When cutting the chili peppers please use gloves, as flesh and seeds can cause the skin to burn.
- Liquid smoke is very potent, in this recipe, you only need a small drop of it. Too much, and it'll overpower the dish. What I like to do is pour a small amount over a spoon, and then add a bit from the spoon to the dish. You're looking for a smokey essence, and not necessarily a flavor. This is to mimic the smoky flavor from a grill.
- I found coconut vinegar at my local Filipino store, but you can sub it for white vinegar.
- If you can't find fresh calamansi, you can use lemon or calamansi extract. If you do find calamansi extract, you will need to use less of it. Taste as you go.
Shelby says
I messed up the chicharon, but it was still yummy! It tastes like a summer food, so I am transported! Thank you!
Floured Frame says
Oh! Sorry to hear about the chicharon! But I'm glad that this recipe still worked out for you! Making this recipe definitely brings me back to summer and the Philippines!