A Filipino Crispy Tofu Sisig cooked with an aromatic blend of onions, garlic, peppers, and chiles. This is a hearty vegan take on the Filipino Kapampangan classic! This is also inspired by the Crispy Tofu Sisig from Max’s restaurant!
It’s delicious savoury and spicy with a bit of sourness and hint of sweetness.
WHAT IS SISIG?
Sisig is a very popular Filipino dish that originated from Pampanga in the island of Luzon.
It’s usually made out of pig ears, chicken liver, and often pork belly with lots of fat cooked with lots of aromatic garlic, onions, and chiles.
It’s also seasoned with something sour such as Calamansi (Philippine Lime) juice and seasoned with other spices.
This version is of course free from any animal products and by-products and is 100% vegan.
Sisig is also commonly served on a sizzling dish with some butter or margarine, so if you’d like that whole experience, you can of course heat up a sizzling plate or a small cast iron pan and add in some vegan butter or margarine before adding in your cooked tofu sisig!
Growing up with sisig
I did grow up really enjoying pork sisig growing up through, despite it (in my opinion) being one of the unhealthiest dishes you could eat especially some versions having lots of pig fat.
Anyway, whether you’re an omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan, I hope you enjoy this dish because my family loves a good crispy tofu sisig.
Even if I’m the only vegan in the family, they’d gladly order a tofu sisig to share! They love it just as much as I do because tofu is just really SO VERSATILE!
Most of them do use non-vegan mayonnaise but they’re always willing to exclude this whenever possible.
Other variations of sisig
In the recent years, there have also emerged other versions of sisig—from fish, squid, and tofu sisig.
What makes sisig distinct is the main ingredient (tofu and mushrooms in this case) is usually cut up into very small bite-sized pieces you can easily scoop up with a spoon.
You can check out my mushroom sisig recipe here!
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN SISIG?
Preparing the Tofu and Mushrooms for this vegan sisig
For this vegan version, I of course used tofu with some mushrooms. I used extra firm tofu and simply pressed it to drain out the excess liquid.
Afterwards, I sliced the tofu into small 1/2-inch cubes. The smaller the better—so if you can slice even small, that’d be better.
Shiitake Mushrooms
I used fresh shiitake mushrooms but you’re free to use other mushrooms such as oyster, button, baby bella mushrooms, black fungus/wood ear fungus etc.
I also just sliced the mushrooms into very small pieces—almost minced.
Adding a different mix of mushrooms is also good for different textures.
Preparing the Sauce
For this version I of course used tofu and seasoned them with a mix of soy sauce and veg oyster sauce, calalmansi (Philippine lime) juice, a bit of sugar, and pepper.
WHAT IS CALAMANSI?
It’s a local Philippine lime. It’s small but packs a strong punch! Calamansi really has a distinct flavour, unlike regular limes, and despite their tiny size they pack a really flavourful and very sour punch.
Though if you don’t have access to fresh or packaged calamansi juice, feel free to use lemon juice.
Overall the sauce is a perfect balance of savoury and sour with a hint of sweetness.
It’s a personal preference but I personally enjoy sisig with lots of calamansi juice so I tend to squeeze a lot more calamansi juice after cooking.
Chiles
The chiles give the dish a really good spicy kick and also that extra fragrance. I wouldn’t recommend skipping the chiles!
If you’d like to lessen the heat, you can remove the seeds from the chiles and simply chop up the flesh to add in this dish.
I used sling labuyo (photographed above), which is similar to bird’s eye chiles and Thai chiles, but are hotter.
Be careful when chopping and deseeding your chiles!
When working with chiles, make sure not to touch them directly because the heat can transfer to your hands and when you touch your face it’d be really hot! I’d recommend just holding them by their stems or wearing gloves.
Vegan Mayonnaise
I personally enjoy my sisig with a little mayonnaise, but not too much that it’s overly thick and creamy. Just enough that the mayonnaise beautifully melts and coats the sisig when it’s in the pan.
It also of course gives that added layer or richness and flavour.
COOKING THE SISIG
An overview of the ingredients you need for this vegan sisig:
You can find the full detailed & printable recipe below too!
Tofu Cubes
- 1 lb extra firm tofu
- Neutral oil for frying
- Pinch salt
Sauce Mix/Seasonings
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce
- 1 tbsp calamansi juice or lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- Ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp water
For Sautéing
- 1-2 tbsp vegan butter or neutral oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 small red bell pepper diced
- 3 bird’s eye chiles siling labuyo, or Thai chiles, deseeded (if needed) and sliced
- 2 long green chilies deseeded (if needed) and sliced—I used siling haba
- 3.5 tbsp fresh or rehydrated shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms such as oyster, button, baby bella, black fungus/wood ear mushrooms, finely diced (see notes)
- 1/2-1 tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce, to taste (if needed)
- soy sauce or liquid seasoning like Knorr to taste, if needed
- 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
Full recipe is also in the recipe card below.
Cooking the sisig is very simple and it really helps to have all your ingredients prepared before you start.
You’ll also just need 1 large pan.
I would recommend using a non-stick pan if you’d like to use less oil or pan-fry the tofu cubes instead of deep frying them in oil. Alternatively, you can cook this on a cast iron pan so you can serve it on a sizzling hot plate, as how it’s usually served in Filipino restaurants.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Heat your large pan over high heat. Add some vegan butter or oil to coat the surface of the pan.
When hot, add in the tofu cubes. The tofu cubes should immediately sizzle when you add them in the oil. Sprinkle some salt over the tofu cubes.
Leave the tofu cubes to cook over medium high until golden brown, around 4 to 5 minutes. You may beed to flip them over if pan-frying them. Repeat until all the sides are golden brown and crisp.
Remove the tofu from the oil then set aside. Drain the excess oil form the pan.
I have this container with a strainer on top (photo below) that I use to store my oil. Since tofu are very neutral, I can still use this oil for another 1-2 times.
Add in 1-2 tbsp of oil on the same pan. Over high heat, sauté the onion for 1 minute.
Add in the garlic, then sauté for another minute.
Add in the chiles and peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender
Add in the diced mushrooms and cook for 1 minute over high heat.
Afterwards, add in the crispy tofu.
Pour in the sauce mix and lower to medium high heat. Mix everything together.
Season with more vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce, if needed. Mix well.
- Add in the vegan mayonnaise and give everything a good mix until the mayonnaise has beautiful coated the tofu.
- Turn off the heat and serve while hot on a sizzling plate, if you’d like that whole experience. If using a sizzling plate or cast iron pan, you can simply heat this over direct heat. Once hot and smoking, turn off the heat add 1/2 tbsp of vegan butter until melted.
Add in the cooked sisig into the sizzling pan.
HOW TO ENJOY THIS TOFU SISIG
- You can squeeze with some more calamansi or lemon juice, if you’d like. This for me is best enjoyed with rice! I love mine with Filipino Fried Garlic Rice or Sinangag.
You’ll find the full recipe for this Filipino Crispy Tofu Sisig below!
Enjoy!
MORE FILIPINO VEGAN RECIPES YOU MIGHT LOVE:
- Filipino Kaldereta or ‘Meat’ Stew
- Mushroom Tocino
- Filipino Fried Garlic Rice (Sinangag)
- Filipino Lumpiang Gulay or Fried Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Filipino “Pork” Barbecue
- Vegan Longganisa
- Tofu and Mushroom Salpicao
- Adobo
- Bola-Bola (Filipino Meatballs)
Filipino Crispy Tofu Sisig (Vegan)
Equipment
- Sizzling plate or small cast iron pan
Ingredients
Tofu Cubes
- 1 lb extra firm tofu
- Neutral oil for frying
- Pinch salt
Sauce Mix/Seasonings
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce
- 1 tbsp calamansi juice or lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- Ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp water
For Sautéing
- 1-2 tbsp vegan butter or neutral oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 small red bell pepper diced
- 3 bird’s eye chiles siling labuyo, or Thai chiles, deseeded (if needed) and sliced
- 2 long green chilies deseeded (if needed) and sliced—I used siling haba
- 3.5 tbsp fresh or rehydrated shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms such as oyster, button, baby bella, black fungus/wood ear mushrooms, finely diced (see notes)
- 1/2-1 tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce, to taste (if needed)
- soy sauce or liquid seasoning like Knorr to taste, if needed
- 2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
For Serving
- 1/2 tbsp vegan butter if serving on a sizzling plate or cast iron pan
- More calamansi juice or lemon juice
- Sinangag (Filipino Fried Garlic Rice) or Steamed Rice
Instructions
- You can watch the video below.
Preparing the Tofu
- Drain excess water out of the tofu. I usually do this by wrapping them with some paper towels and placing a plate on top of them but you can also opt to use a tofu press.
- Afterwards, I sliced the tofu into small 1/2-inch cubes. The smaller the better—so if you can slice even small, that’d be better.
Sauce
- Mix all the sauce/seasoning ingredients together. Feel free to adjust to your taste.
Cooking the Crispy Tofu
- Heat your large pan over high heat. Add some oil to coat the surface of the pan.
- When hot, add in the tofu cubes. The tofu cubes should immediately sizzle when you add them in the oil. Sprinkle some salt over the tofu cubes.
- Leave the tofu cubes to cook over medium high until golden brown, around 4 to 5 minutes. You may beed to flip them over if pan-frying them. Repeat until all the sides are golden brown and crisp.
- Remove the tofu from the oil then set aside. Drain the excess oil form the pan. I have this container with a strainer on top that I use to store my oil. Since tofu are very neutral, I can still use this oil for another 1-2 times.
Sautéing
- Add in 1-2 tbsp of oil or vegan butter on the same pan. Alternatively, you can cook the sisig directly on a cast iron pan/sizzling plate. Over high heat, sauté the onion for 1 minute.
- Add in the garlic, then sauté for another minute.
- Add in the chiles and peppers and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender.
- Add in the diced mushrooms and cook for 1 minute over high heat.
- Afterwards, add in the crispy tofu.
- Pour in the sauce mix and lower to medium high heat. Mix well.
- Taste the sisig then season with more vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce and soy sauce, if needed.
- Mix everything together and leave to cook over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add in the vegan mayonnaise and give everything a good mix until the mayonnaise has beautiful coated the tofu.
To Serve
- Turn off the heat and serve while hot on a sizzling plate, if you’d like that whole experience.
- If using a sizzling plate or cast iron pan, you can simply heat this over direct heat. Once hot and smoking, turn off the heat add 1/2 tbsp of vegan butter until melted. Add in the cooked sisig into the sizzling pan.
- Squeeze with some more calamansi or lemon juice, if you’d like. Enjoy with rice or singangag (Filipino Fried Garlic Rice)!
WATCH Video
Notes
MUSHROOMS
- Adding a different mix of mushrooms is also great for this recipe so you can have different textures in the dish. I love to mix shiitake mushrooms and finely chopped rehydrated black fungus or wood ear fungus.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 54 Comments
Thanks for sharing this. Just looking at all the photos makes me want to try and cook one! I know it will taste great!
Thank you Princess 🙂
Just made this tonight and…wow the flavour was out of this world. Quite possibly my new favourite tofu dish! Cannot wait to make this again!
Thanks felicia!!
This was delicious!
Thanks Holly! 🙂
It was so so so good. I ate it for 5 days straight and I looked forward to it every single day ? super simple, super yums, defo will do it again. Tysm for the recipe.
Hehe yay, thank you also Rinnie!!
Hello, may I know how many calories I it? Thank you?
Hi Pinky, unfortunately I don’t have an exact calorie count for this but some apps can help you calculate for a number by inputting the exact measurements of the ingredients 🙂
Permission to post po will give credit for school project lang po and also thank you for sharing your recipes.
Yes sure, good luck on your project ◡̈
Really fantastic recipe, I’ve made it several times and expect to have it in the rotation for years. My whole family loves it.
So happy to hear!! Thanks Michael ◡̈
Tried this recipe and family loved it!
Yay glad you guys did! ◡̈
Hi! I haven’t had sisig since going vegetarian a dew years ago and this recipe definitely filled that hole. Thanks!!
Really hope you enjoyed it! hehe thank you Ana!
This was a new cuisine for us. Thank you for making Filipino food accessible to vegans! It was delicious and enjoyed by both our adult and child tasters. Love the vegan mayo addition. 💕
Ahh so happy to hear this. Thanks so much Jen!! Rly happy you enjoyed this ◡̈
Thank you! Please share where to buy vegan Mayo here in the Philippines. Thank you again!
You can check for Chosen Foods vegan mayo in S&R or vegan mayo from The Vegan Grocer ◡̈
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 10 star! The best vegan sisig.. It’s so delicious l.. enjoyed every bite! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Yay thank you Faith! So so happy you liked it! ❤️
I made it tonight and used oven baked tofu instead of fried. It was very tasty my family also enjoyed it. The steps are pretty simple but flavours are awesome. Especially I loved the mushroom parts.
Yay thanks so much Teira! ◡̈
This recipe is on repeat in my kitchen—so flavorful and satisfying every time! Even my non-vegan friends and family can’t get enough of it. Great comfort food!
Hey Dan! Wow so happy to hear this 🙂 I love tofu sisig too and I’m glad you like it!
Wow. So delicious! A new favorite for me. Thank you for sharing all of your recipes. I just got your cookbook and look forward to using that as well 🙂
Aw thank you so much Dana! Hope you enjoy the recipes in it as well! ◡̈
Just made this tonight and it was so good! I didn’t have vegan mayo but will try it for next time. Adding this to our rotation!
Thanks Susuan, hope you enjoyed the sisig! ◡̈
I had never tried the original dish, let alone heard of this before. As a matter of fact, I have never tried Filipino cuisine. I couldn’t wait to try this! After a trip to Jungle Jim’s International Market I was able to find all correct ingredients so that I could make it as written. I was not disappointed. My husband and 2 teenagers loved it as well, although my husband and youngest teen are a little more sensitive to spice than my older teen and myself. I found the spice to be perfect. It was a consistent spicy that didn’t continue to increase with the more you ate it. It wore off fairly quick after finished and wasn’t so hot that it made my head sweat. I ended up having to air fry my tofu due to the fact I overlooked using a nonstick pan to fry in. Mine wasn’t, which meant I ended up scraping the tofu off with a metal spatula. Although this did add some really great crunch to the dish. I paired with the garlic rice, also amazing! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Tanya, I’m so happy you gave this dish a try and glad you and your family enjoyed it! Also appreciate you leaving this review ◡̈
I made this tonight for dinner and it was great! Next time I wanna make it with butter; I’m sure it’ll taste even better <3
Ah yess butter makes it better hehe. Thanks and glad you liked it!! ◡̈
This was so incredibly delicious!!!
Ahh thank you, hope you enjoyed this!! ◡̈
I loved how the tofu pieces absorbed the citrus flavor very much. Sadly I overdid it with the mayonnaise (my scoops were too large). Next time I will be more careful. I like how acidic the Filipino cuisine is, it’s so different from German cooking.
Hi Niklas, glad you gave this a try. Thanks for your feedback as always ◡̈
This was freaking amazing! WOW. My wife and ate the entire thing!
Yaaay so happy you guys enjoyed it 🙂 thanks!
Amazing recipe!
My partner (non-vegan) gave it a 10/10 and asked me to re-do it within less than a week, to share with his family.
Between 1st trial and leftovers, I’ve had it many times in a week and still can’t get enough! Ahah, that’s how good it is!
Can’t wait to try the other Filipino recipes!
Hi Rita, so happy you guys liked it! Appreciate you leaving this review 🙂
Really good, everyone loved it.. Definitely a keeper
Hey Terry, glad you liked it! 🙂
Super Sarap! This recipe surpasses all other tofu mushroom sisig recipes. It’s easy and versatile. I omitted the mayo and added more veggies for a guilt-free goodness!
YAAY! Thanks Jaimee!!
This is the best tofu sisig recipe I have ever tried. I air fried the tofu as I avoid oil/ frying. Used vegan mayo, vegan oyster sauce and kalamansi. It was perfect 👍
Yay, thanks Ellen! Really happy you liked it 🙂 love tofu sisig!
Thank you for your delicious recipe. It now one of our favorite recipes. There is so much flavor in it. It was simply enjoyable.
I love Sisig, and glad you like it too! 🙂
Amazing recipe, made it a good few times now and always comes out great!
YAY! Thanks so much Jason 🙂