Tuna and Tokwa Sisig Recipe – A Delicious Tofu Twist on a Classic

This Tuna and Tokwa Sisig Recipe or known as “Tuna and Tofu Sisig” is a deliciously updated version of the classic pork sisig. Made with tofu or ‘towka’ and canned tuna as the meat replacement for pork, it still has that iconic very savory and umami taste with hints of tang and spice. For this dish, all you need are tuna, tofu blocks, calamansi juice, butter, onion, ginger, garlic, green and red bell peppers, soy sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, mayonnaise, red and green chillies, and an egg to make this affordable but Yummy Dish. 

Tuna and Tokwa Sisig Recipe :

Ingredients :

• 2 cans tuna ( 150 grams )
• 3 blocks tofu 
• ½ tablespoon calamansi juice
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion ( chopped )
• 1 thumb-sized ginger ( minced )
• 3 cloves garlic
• Red and green bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• Black pepper to taste
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• Green chillies
• Red chillies
• 1 large egg
• Oil for frying
• Spring onions ( optional garnish )

Steps :

1. To prepare: Strain the tuna, slice the tofu to half, slice the calamansi to half and squeeze the juice out. Set aside.

2. In a pan halfway filled with oil, fry the tofu blocks, flipping if needed. Once browned, chop into squares. Set aside.

3. In another pan, melt butter, saute onions until soft, add ginger, then garlic. Once aromatic, add the bell peppers and saute for a few minutes.

4. Add the tuna. Saute for a minute. Mix in fried tofu, calamansi juice, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Add in mayonnaise. Stir until well combined.

5. Add green and red chillies. Make a well and add an egg in the middle. Garnish with spring onions.

What is “Sisig” ?

Sisig is a Filipino dish usually paired with drinks, especially beer called “Pulutan” as the Philippines’ version of the Spanish Tapas. This dish makes use of pig parts like pork ears, belly, jowl, brains and liver. Seasoned very well, then placing an egg in the middle, cooking it just for a few minutes or served raw to over a sizzling plate. It tastes salty and savory at first, then savory, tangy, umami, then packing heat at the end with the amount of green and red chillies it has. 

A dish that originated from Pampanga, in the city of Angeles. It’s considered a heritage dish of the area. The earliest record found was in 1733 in the book “Vocabulary of the Kapampangan Language in Spanish” and “Dictionary of the Spanish Language in Kapampangan”. The term “Sisig” itself got its name from the Tagalog word “Sisigan” meaning “to make sour” this is because the dish itself has a good sprinkling of calamansi, and when served also has a side of halved calamansi for those who want a stronger tang. But long before this pork based dish, “Sisig” was a term used to call a salad made of spices, vinegar, garlic, and green papaya. It was also used to call the method of marinating meats like pork and fish in a sour liquid mixture made of vinegar, lemon, salt, pepper, with extra spices and seasonings.

This dish was said to have been made as the pig’s head back then very very cheap otherwise free from the Clark Air Base commissaries. Aling Lucing, who made the dish gained her popularity by taking the pig’s head then grilled the parts and sold it as is. Though she has stated that the idea came from her next door neighbor Ricardo “Bapang Kadok” Dinio, and once it gained momentum a lot more big and small restaurants started to recreate the recipe. The preparation starts with cleaning the pork head by boiling it then removing the hairs, chopping these into parts before being broiled or grilled, seasoned with salt, pepper, onions, calamansi juice or vinegar, then mixing it a mix of different chillies, topped with a raw egg that cooks using the remaining heat form the sizzling plate. Other interesting combinations are chicken sisig, beef sisig, fish sisig using bangus ( milkfish ), squid sisig, tofu sisig, and this combination of Tuna and Tokwa recipe.

Questions

• Additional ingredients

While this Tokwa Tuna Sisig recipe is delicious as is, you might want to make this a bit fuller if you plan to chow it down with a side of rice. Try adding chopped up pork or chicken liver, chicharon ( or pork cracklings ) as a topping for extra flavor and crunch, mushrooms, eggplants, or even potatoes.

• How to store / reheat this Tuna and Tokwa Sisig Recipe
  • Store the dish in an airtight container only after it’s at room temperature. It can be kept in the fridge for almost 1 week and in the freezer for around 2 – 3 months. 
  • To reheat; thaw this for 30 minutes to an hour if frozen. Place this in a pan at medium heat adding a bit of oil to saute the dish until it’s hot enough. You can also place this in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute at a time.

How to make Tokwa and Tuna Sisig

This richly flavored dish can be made in under 10 minutes. The dish of choice to make for quick dinners or fun lunches. All you need to do is prepare your tofu by slicing these in half, making it easier to fry later on, strain the canned tuna, then prepare half a tablespoon of calamansi juice. Fry the tofu pieces until it looks crisp and browned on the outside. Take these out to slice into smaller squares. Now to create the dish, melt butter to help saute the aromatics, ginger, onion, and garlic heating these up until it smells fragrant. Then add in the colorful additions of red and green bell peppers. Saute these just for a few minutes before adding our meat of strained tuna and tofu. Toss these around before adding a seasoning mix of calamansi juice for a slight tang, soy sauce and oyster sauce to help bring out the savory umami flavors. Mix these well before adding some mayonnaise which really elevates the dish by giving it a nice creaminess with a hint of sweetness. Mix well before topping with green and red chillies which the classic sisig is very much known for. Make a well in the middle of the pan to drop in an egg, leaving it to cook halfway before garnishing the top with chopped green onions and serving it while it’s hot. Serve with a nice cold glass of iced tea, beer, or a side of freshly cooked rice.

Try our other Quick Tuna Recipes :

• Easiest Tuna Pie
• Tuna Carbonara Filipino Style
• Cheesy Tuna Lumpia
• Tuna Balls
• Tuna Patties with Eggplant

Tuna and Tokwa Sisig Resipi ( Tagalog ) :

Mga Sangkap :

• 2 lata tuna ( 150 gramo )
• 3 bloke ng tokwa
• ½ kutsarang calamansi juice
• 3 kutsarang mantikilya
• 1 sibuyas ( hiniwa )
• 1 daliring luya ( tinadtad )
• 3 butil ng bawang
• Pula at berde kampanilyang paminta
• 1 kutsarang soy sauce
• 1 kutsarang oyster sauce
• Paminta panlasa
• ½ tasa mayonnaise
• Siling mahaba
• Siling labuyo
• 1 malaking itlog
• Mantika pang prito
• Dahon ng sibuyas ( opsyonal pang dekorasyon )

Paano Lutuin :

1. Para ihanda: Salain ang tuna, hiwain ang tokwa ng kalahati, hiwain ang calamansi at pigain. Itabi.
2. Sa kawali na may mainit na mantika, iprito ang mga tokwa, pag baliktaran kung kailangan. Pag nag kayumanggi, hiwain ng pa parisukat. Itabi.
3. Sa ibang kawali, tunawin ang mantikilya, lutuin ang mga sibuyas hanggang lumambot, haluan ng luya, pagkatapos ang bawang. Pagbumango, haluan dito ang mga kapanilyang paminta, lutuin ng ilang minuto.
4. Ihalo dito ang tuna, lutuin ng 1 minuto. Osama ang prinitong tokwa, calamansi juice, soy sauce, at oyster sauce.
5. Haluan ng mayonnaise. Ihalo dito ang pula at berdeng sili. Gumawa ng balon sa gitna at lagyan ito ng itlog. Dekorasyonan ng mga dahon ng sibuyas.

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