Longanisa Sisig with Garlic Fried Rice

I was really in a mood for cooking another authentic Filipino dish. So for dinner the other day I made a combination of two of my favourite components (or dishes) and blended the two together making one scrumptious entrée.

My first favourite is a longanisa…spelled more than one way…longganisa, longaniza…all depending on which country you are from. Called longanisa in the Philippines, the sausages are flavoured with indigenous spices, with each region having its own specialty.

Longaniza (Spanish pronunciation: [loŋɡaˈniθa]) is a Spanish sausage (embutido) similar to a chorizo and also closely associated with the Portuguese linguiça. Its defining characteristics are interpreted differently from region to region. It is popular in the cuisines of several regions of Spain, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and the Philippines. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longaniza)

My second favourite, along with my husband’s is a dish called Sisig.

Sisig is a Kapampangan term which means “to snack on something sour”. It usually refers to fruits, often unripe or half-ripe, sometimes dipped in salt and vinegar. It also refers to a method of preparing fish and meat, especially pork, which is marinated in a sour liquid such as lemon juice or vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices.^[2]

Sisig also refers to Sizzling sisig^[3], a Filipino dish made from parts of pig’s head and liver, usually seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisig)

Now that you’ve got the basis of a couple of Filipino staple dishes, here’s a recipe that I quickly put together with a little help from generic searches online. On a side note, sisig by itself makes for a great appetizer, but it also makes a great main dish enjoyed with steam or fried rice. I made fried rice as a side dish for this recipe. As the main flavor base, I used the same pan where I fried the longanisa to also fry the rice, along with fresh garlic, finely chopped, scallions, chopped and some homemade butter (you can use any butter you wish or even olive oil/similar).

For the Sisig

Ingredients

1.5 lbs pork ears (cleaned and hair removed or so to speak shaved) FOR THIS RECIPE, I used longonisa sausage
.5 lbs pork liver This is omitted for this recipe
2 hot chilis (minced)
2 Medium red onions (minced)
garlic (crushed, as in super crushed)
5 tbsp soy sauce (up to you on how strong the flavor you want it)
5 tbsp vinegar (up to you on how strong the flavor you want it)
vegetable oil (you can use olive oil if you’d like)
Sizzling plate (optional)
salt and pepper
1 egg (I didn’t use egg, but you can as part of the garnish)

Directions

1. Rub the pork ear and liver with a pinch of salt and pepper (ONLY IF USING ORIGINAL INGREDIENTS)
2. Grill the pork ear and the pork liver (For my recipe, grill the longanisa until golden, then remove from pan and set aside to cool)
3. The pork ear (longonisa) should be cooked until crisp but not burnt
4. After cooking and cooling, mince everything up and mix (pork ear and pork liver) OR THE LONGONISA
5. In a non stick pan, heat oil and saute garlic until golden brown
6. Add the onions and sauté until translucent
7. Add the mixed pork ear and the pork liver OR THE LONGONISA
8. Cook until the meat starts to crisp a bit
9. Add the vinegar and the soy sauce
10. Salt and pepper to taste
11. Remove from heat, add the minced hot chilis if you want it hot.
12. Add the egg after removing it from heat.
13. Eat it as it is, as I’ve mentioned… Also, add a squeeze of lime/or lemon