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Sisig ( ) is a Filipino cuisine dish made from pork jowl and ears ( maskara), pork belly, and chicken liver, which is usually seasoned with calamansi, onions, and chili peppers. It originates from the Pampanga region in Luzon.
Sisig is a staple of Kapampangan cuisine. The city government of Angeles, Pampanga, through City Ordinance No. 405, series of 2017, declared sizzling sisig babi ("pork sisig") as a tangible heritage of Angeles City.Angeles Ordinance No. 405, Series of 2017 “An ordinance declaring Sizzling Sisig Babi as an intangible cultural heritage of Angeles, and establishing systems and policies in safeguarding the original recipe of Sizzling Sisig, providing mechanisms of implementation, and for other related purposes”)
The term also came to be used to a method of preparing fish and meat, especially pork, which is marination in a sour liquid such as lemon juice or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and other spices.
The use of the pig's head in the dish is commonly attributed to using the excess meat from the commissaries of Clark Air Base in Angeles City. Pig heads were purchased cheap (or free), since they were not used in preparing meals for the U.S. Air Force personnel stationed there during the American occupation of Luzon and Visayas. Aling Lucing became popular when she grilled the pig's ears and added the cheeks to accommodate the bigger demand, a recipe she learned from the next-door stall owner in Crossing, Ricardo "Bapang Kadok" Dinio. The evolution of sisig moved forward when Benedict Pamintuan of Sugay's, a restaurant also in Angeles, thought of using a sizzling plate as a serving vessel so that the pork fat would not go cold and turn into lard when it was served. Sisig still has many variations with recipes varying from city to city, and sometimes family to family, in the Kapampangan province.
Variations of sisig may include pork or chicken liver and/or any of: eggs, ox brains, chicharon (pork cracklings), and mayonnaise; although these additions are common nowadays, they are frowned upon by the traditionalist chefs of Pampanga as it deviates far from the identity of the original sisig. Recently, local chefs have experimented with ingredients other than pork such as chicken, squid, tuna, and tofu.
Sisig has also been improved into different dishes making it into salad, taco fillings, chicken stuffing, carbonara meat, and others.
In 2008, the festival was put on hiatus following Aling Lucing's death. In 2014, Ayala Malls's Marquee Mall incorporated the festival by including it within their annual Big Bite! Northern Food Festival, held every October or November.
The Angeles City Tourism Office organized a festival on April 29, 2017. The revival of the festival was in line with the Philippine Department of Tourism's Flavors of the Philippines campaign. Now called "Sisig Fiesta", the festivities were held at Valdes Street, Angeles (also known as "Crossing" since it was a former railroad track), where Aling Lucing reinvented the dish. The newly revived Sisig Fiesta was a one-day event that featured a line up of sisig sampler banquet, sisig and BBQ stalls, cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs, and a showcase of Angeleño culinary talent through competitions.
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