Lechon kawali, with its tender meat and crispy skin, makes an excellent protein base for sisig.
You don't always need a whole pig's head to make sisig, especially if ground pork is more easily available to the home cook 99% of the time. Variations of the dish using chicken, tofu, and seafood have emerged out of that same convenience. To make sisig with any protein, you need to recreate what makes it so irresistible: the medley of flavors and textures on the sizzling plate.
Originating from Pampanga, traditional sisig uses parts of livestock that are usually discarded like chicken liver, the pig’s face and ears, and sometimes even the pig’s brain. The fatty, gamey flavors work well with the dish’s main seasonings: onions, calamansi, and chili.
Lechon kawali—soft, chubby pork plus crispy skin underscored with chewy fat—scores high on textural satisfaction, making it a great choice for sisig. To make it from scratch, make just the pork from our tokwa't baboy recipe. Leftovers will work just as well, if not better. Chop up the lechon kawali into small squares, then toast in a pan to bring back some crunch. The mayo-based dressing adds the needed spicy, savory, tangy flavors to wrap everything up.
Cook lechon kawali: Heat 1–2 tbsp of neutral oil in a stainless steel pan over medium heat. Add chopped lechon kawali and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook.
Make sauce: While the lechon kawali cooks, combine liver spread and mayonnaise in a small mixing bowl.
Make sisig: Once the lechon kawali is cooked, add garlic, ginger, and green chili to the pan. Cook until fragrant. Add about half of the mayo mixture to the pan; use more or all of it for maximum creamy flavor, but you don’t have to! Stir to incorporate. Add red onions and cook until fragrant.
Cook eggs: With the back of a spoon, create 2 or 3 wells in the meat mixture. Crack an egg into each well, then gently tilt and swirl the pan to help the egg whites disperse into the sisig. Once 50% of the egg is cooked, cover pan with a lid to help the whites continue to cook, about 1 minute. Finish by seasoning with Knorr liquid seasoning and calamansi. Serve.
