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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!
It’s also amazing how more and more Filipino restaurants are offering tofu sisig or sizzling tofu dishes in their menus these days.
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.
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.
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:
Tofu Cubes
- 1lbextra firm tofu
- Neutral oilfor frying
- Pinchsalt
Sauce Mix/Seasonings
- 1tbspsoy sauce
- 1tbspvegetarian mushroom oyster sauceor stir-fry sauce
- 1tbspcalamansi juiceor lemon juice
- 1tspsugar
- Ground black pepper
- 2tbspwater
For Sautéing
- 1-2tbspvegan butteror neutral oil
- 1mediumoniondiced
- 2tspminced garlic
- 1small red bell pepperdiced
- 3bird’s eye chilessiling labuyo, or Thai chiles, deseeded (if needed) and sliced
- 2long green chiliesdeseeded (if needed) and sliced—I used siling haba
- 3.5tbspfresh or rehydrated shiitake mushroomsor other mushrooms such as oyster, button, baby bella, black fungus/wood ear mushrooms, finely diced (see notes)
- 1/2-1tbspvegetarian mushroom oyster sauceor stir-fry sauce, to taste (if needed)
- soy sauce or liquid seasoning like Knorrto taste, if needed
- 2tbspvegan 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
- Filipino Lumpiang Gulay or Fried Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Filipino “Pork” Barbecue
- Tofu and Mushroom Salpicao
- Adobo
- Bola-Bola (Filipino Meatballs)
Filipino Crispy Tofu Sisig (Vegan)
5 from 42 votes
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! It’s delicious savoury and spicy with a bit of sourness and hint of sweetness.
Perfect with rice or sinangag (Filipino Fried Garlic Rice)!
Print Recipe Pin this RecipeRate this Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Filipino
Servings 2
Calories 305 kcal
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
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 305kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1149mg | Potassium: 425mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 403IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 3mg
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please leave a rating or comment and share a photo on Instagram, and tag me @thefoodietakesflight or use #thefoodietakesflight 🙂
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This Post Has 42 Comments
Princess Cabaltera May 1, 2021Reply
Thanks for sharing this. Just looking at all the photos makes me want to try and cook one! I know it will taste great!Jeeca May 2, 2021Reply
Thank you Princess 🙂
Felicia May 7, 2021Reply
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!Jeeca May 10, 2021Reply
Thanks felicia!!
Holly June 1, 2021Reply
This was delicious!Jeeca June 2, 2021Reply
Thanks Holly! 🙂
Rinnie August 13, 2021Reply
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.Jeeca August 14, 2021Reply
Hehe yay, thank you also Rinnie!!
Pinky August 20, 2021Reply
Hello, may I know how many calories I it? Thank you?Jeeca August 21, 2021Reply
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 🙂
phoebe January 16, 2022Reply
Permission to post po will give credit for school project lang po and also thank you for sharing your recipes.
Jeeca January 18, 2022Reply
Yes sure, good luck on your project ◡̈
Michael March 22, 2022Reply
Really fantastic recipe, I’ve made it several times and expect to have it in the rotation for years. My whole family loves it.Jeeca March 22, 2022Reply
So happy to hear!! Thanks Michael ◡̈
Aubstofulover July 21, 2022Reply
Tried this recipe and family loved it!Jeeca July 26, 2022Reply
Yay glad you guys did! ◡̈
Ana August 11, 2022Reply
Hi! I haven’t had sisig since going vegetarian a dew years ago and this recipe definitely filled that hole. Thanks!!Jeeca August 12, 2022Reply
Really hope you enjoyed it! hehe thank you Ana!
Jen August 26, 2022Reply
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. 💕Jeeca August 29, 2022Reply
Ahh so happy to hear this. Thanks so much Jen!! Rly happy you enjoyed this ◡̈
Rheagene September 13, 2022Reply
Thank you! Please share where to buy vegan Mayo here in the Philippines. Thank you again!
Jeeca September 14, 2022Reply
You can check for Chosen Foods vegan mayo in S&R or vegan mayo from The Vegan Grocer ◡̈
Faitj January 8, 2023Reply
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 10 star! The best vegan sisig.. It’s so delicious l.. enjoyed every bite! Thank you for sharing your recipe!Jeeca January 9, 2023Reply
Yay thank you Faith! So so happy you liked it! ❤️
Teira January 10, 2023Reply
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.Jeeca January 10, 2023Reply
Yay thanks so much Teira! ◡̈
Dana February 4, 2023Reply
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 🙂Jeeca February 5, 2023Reply
Aw thank you so much Dana! Hope you enjoy the recipes in it as well! ◡̈
Susan February 22, 2023Reply
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!Jeeca February 26, 2023Reply
Thanks Susuan, hope you enjoyed the sisig! ◡̈
Tanya April 4, 2023Reply
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.Jeeca April 4, 2023Reply
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 ◡̈
Kayune April 13, 2023Reply
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 <3Jeeca April 15, 2023Reply
Ah yess butter makes it better hehe. Thanks and glad you liked it!! ◡̈
J November 28, 2023Reply
This was so incredibly delicious!!!Jeeca December 1, 2023Reply
Ahh thank you, hope you enjoyed this!! ◡̈
Niklas February 3, 2024Reply
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.Jeeca February 4, 2024Reply
Hi Niklas, glad you gave this a try. Thanks for your feedback as always ◡̈
Jen February 24, 2024Reply
This was freaking amazing! WOW. My wife and ate the entire thing!Jeeca February 26, 2024Reply
Yaaay so happy you guys enjoyed it 🙂 thanks!
Rita April 8, 2024Reply
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!Jeeca April 9, 2024Reply
Hi Rita, so happy you guys liked it! Appreciate you leaving this review 🙂