Crispy Pork Sisig

I have a very extravagant kitchen habit that I’ve been trying to break: I cook food at home like I am feeding an army of thirty instead of a family of three. Open my refrigerator and you’ll find it stacked high with tupperwares of weeks-old food. I guess this is because I am so used to quantity cooking at work wherein our food production involves 100 plus pounds of meat every day. Also, my brood is so accustomed to me preparing fresh meals on a daily basis that they are not very receiving to repeats.

My family, however, can easily be tricked. I have adapted creative strategies for recycling food that they hardly recognize them as leftovers. Fried fish from lunch usually make a reappearance as bangus sa tausi (milkfish with black beans) for dinner. Spare meat from my roasted onion chicken often transforms to chicken salad sandwiches for brown bag lunches. Last night, my extra slab of crispy lechon kawali graced our dinner table as this crispy pork sisig. Complaints? Ah-uh. The stuff was chewed and gone before I could say crispy pork sisig twice. Sisig started in the Filipino way of life as a pulutan item, a finger food accompaniment for the beer-happy filipino male. But like other pulutan dishes, sisig has now evolved into a popular dinner fare for the whole family. The use of pork ears, deep-fried tofu, raw fish, and beef livers are the most common interpretations of this dish.

Makes 4 Servings

3 cups finely chopped lechon kawali (remove bone)
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper (seeded)
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (seeded)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 minced thai peppers
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust amount of thai peppers to taste. Let stand for around 5 minutes before serving to allow flavors to mingle.

TIPS:
1) Although I used our leftover lechon kawali, a slab that’s freshly fried and still very crispy works best.

 

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