Here’s a vegan version of a Filipino Kapampangan classic! This is a Vegan Mushroom Sisig made with well, of course, mushrooms!
I also have Crispy Tofu Sisig recipe over on my blog. I find that this one is more similar to the actual sisig made of meat because of the texture of the mushrooms.
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, pig face, liver, and often pork belly with lots of fat cooked with lots of aromatic garlic, onions, and chiles. The meat is usually finely chopped into very small pieces, similar to the mushrooms in this recipe.
Sisig is also commonly served on a sizzling dish with some butter or margarine, so for this recipe I used a cast iron pan.
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.
HOW DOES THIS MUSHROOM SISIG TASTE LIKE?
It’s delicious savoury with a kick of spice and a little bit of sweetness and acidity from the calamansi or lemon juice. The mushroom give this that chewy bite, that is similar to the pig face, ears, pork fats and meat in traditionally made sisig.
HOW TO ENJOY SISIG
Sisig can be enjoyed as a hearty meal, as a snack, or as pulutan–something enjoyed when drinking (let’s say, beer!) with friends.
A squeeze of calamansi juice (or lemon juice if you don’t have access to calamansi) is a must especially for me because I personally love the added acidity so I tend to ask for more calamansi when I’d enjoy sisig in restaurants. They usually serve just 1-2 pieces of cut up calamansi.
Though its of course a personal preference how much calamansi juice you want on yours!
And of course, you can enjoy your sisig with a bowl of plain rice or sinangag (fried garlic rice).
Fried garlic rice is a classic in Filipino restaurants but it’s so easy and simple to make at home.
MUSHROOMS FOR THIS RECIPE
I use fresh oyster mushrooms for this recipe. I love the texture of oyster mushrooms and they’re also commonly grown and found in the Philippines. These are also more affordable than other mushrooms here so I love using these in my recipes.
I simply diced them into very small pieces.
CAN I USE OTHER MUSHROOMS?
Yes! I can recommend shiitake, button, baby bella, king oyster mushrooms, etc.
DRIED TOFU OR BEANCURD SKIN
I get these large pieces of dried beancurd skin, that add a really nice texture so I decided to add some of these into the recipe as well. If you don’t have bean curd skin, you can opt to just use more mushrooms or even some soy chunks.
I just rehydrated the dried tofu/beancurd skin and then chopped these into small diced pieces, similar to the mushrooms.
CHILES FOR THIS SISIG
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 (the small red chiles) and siling haba (the larger green chiles), that are photographed above.
THE SAUCE
For the sauce, you can easily adjust this to your taste. If you want more acidity, you can add more calamansi/lemon juice. It’s really up to your personal preference!
FOR SPICE AND HEAT: CHILES
If you love spice, you can opt not to remove the seeds of your chiles! I love my sisig on the spicy side so I keep them all for sautéing. It adds that nice kick along with the flavours of the sauce.
HOW TO COOK THIS SISIG
I prepared the rest of the ingredients: the sauce, the vegan butter, vegan mayo, diced bell pepper, chiles, onions, garlic.
You’ll just need one pan. I used a large cast iron pan, around 10-inches in diameter.
Heat your medium/large cast iron pan over high heat (mine was 10-inches).
Once hot, lower the meat to medium then add the butter.
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 tofu skin/soy chunks then pour in the sauce. Turn up the heat to medium high and cook down the mushrooms for 4-5 minutes or until it releases its liquid and starts to dry up.
This part can take a bit long, so patience is key!
I actually moved the pan to my induction stove to my gas range (hence the not-so-great lighting) but I really prefer cooking this open fire.
Mushrooms release a lot of water but once they do, they’ll cook down in the sauce and absorb all the flavours!
Once the mushrooms have dried up, mix in the vegan mayo.
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 until the mayo has coated the sisig very well.
OTHER FILIPINO VEGAN RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
- Adobo
- Filipino Kaldereta or ‘Meat’ Stew
- Mushroom Tocino
- Filipino Fried Garlic Rice
- Filipino Lumpiang Gulay or Fried Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Filipino “Pork” Barbecue
- Crispy Tofu Sisig
- Tofu and Mushroom Salpicao
ENJOY!! Get the full recipe below!
Vegan Mushroom Sisig (Filipino Recipe)
Equipment
- 1 cast iron pan
Ingredients
For the Sisig
- 350 g fresh oyster mushrooms or other mushrooms of choice (see notes)
- 50 g dried tofu skin or soy chunks/soy curls (see notes)
Sauce (feel free to adjust to your taste!!)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce
- 1-2 tbsp calamansi juice or lemon juice
- 2 tsp sugar
- Ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp water
For Sautéing
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 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
- 1/2-1 tbsp veg mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce to taste
- Knorr liquid seasoning or soy sauce , optional to taste
- 2 tbsp vegan mayo
To Serve
- More calamansi or lemon juice
- Steamed rice or sinangag (Filipino Fried Garlic Rice recipe here)
Instructions
Preparing the Mushrooms and Tofu Skin (if using)
- Roughly chop the mushrooms into very small pieces, around 1/2-inch (1.25-cm) pieces or smaller.
- If using tofu skin or soy chunks/curls, soak these in water until completely rehydrated. Squeeze out the excess liquid and then chop these up into very small pieces, similar to the mushrooms.
Sauce
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Feel free to adjust to your taste.
Cooking the Sisig
- Heat your medium/large cast iron pan over high heat (mine was 10-inches). Once hot, lower the heat to medium then add the butter. 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 tofu skin/soy chunks then pour in the sauce. Turn up the heat to medium high and cook down the mushrooms for 4-5 minutes or until it releases its liquid and starts to dry up. This part can take a bit long, so patience is key!
- Mushrooms release a lot of water but once they do, they’ll cook down in the sauce and absorb all the flavours!
- Once the mushrooms have dried up, mix in the vegan mayo.
- Taste the sisig then season with more vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce and/or liquid seasoning or soy sauce, if needed.
- Mix everything together and leave to cook over medium heat for 1 minute until the mayo has coated the sisig very well.
To Serve
- Turn off the heat and serve while hot with a squeeze of more calamansi/lemon juice. I love the citrusy flavour and tang of calamansi with sisig so I love squeezing a lot more juice on mine. But it's really a personal preference!
- Enjoy with rice or sinangag (Filipino Fried Garlic Rice)!
WATCH Video
Notes
Dried Tofu Skin/Beancurd, Soy Chunks/Curls
- These add that ‘meaty’ bite to the sisig. If you’re unable to find any tofu skin or soy chunks/curls, you can opt to just use 100 g more of fresh oyster mushrooms. So that will be a total of 450 g (1 lb) fresh mushrooms for this recipe.
Mushrooms
- Feel free to use other fresh mushrooms of choice (like shiitake, king oyster, baby bella, button, etc)
- Rehydrated mushrooms: you can also use dried shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms and rehydrate this in hot water.
Here are some soy chunks/curls you can find on Amazon:
(these affiliate links)NUTRITIONAL INFO
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This Post Has 5 Comments
Just made this today and legit SO. GOOD! I used both oyster mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms and the texture was close to the ‘original’ sisig meat. The spicy flavour from the chilis gave that nice kick, so yes don’t skip this one!
Tried this recipe and it was amazing! The mayo was just enough that it didn’t overpower the sisig sauce. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Marie!! ◡̈
This looks amazing! Just wondering if your oyster mushroom ever come out bitter? When sauteed, they usually do so I’m concerned. Otherwise looks like a great recipe!
Hi! Hmm it might be your mushrooms? I don’t have this problem with mine. I find that older oyster mushrooms when no longer fresh start to get bitter, so this might be the case.