Pork belly, ceviche and spicy sausage: Ferdinand ‘Budgie’ Montoya’s Filipino recipes

Pork is so integral to the Filipino diet, it features in some shape or form at most meals. Pinoys eat pork all year round, be that a whole celebratory lechon (suckling pig) at Christmas, in snacks, at breakfast, and with fish in sinuglaw. Here are my twists on some classic Filipino dishes that you can make at home.

Sinuglaw

Sinuglaw combines smoky, fatty pork belly with the clean, tart flavours of fish ceviche. The name comes from two popular cooking methods: sugba, meaning to grill, and kinilaw, to cook by soaking in vinegar or citric acid.

Prep 20 min
Marinate 1 hr
Cook 15 min
Serves 4

1 large cucumber, halved, deseeded and cut into 1cm cubes
1 red onion, peeled and cut into very small dice
15g finely minced ginger
2 bird’s eye chillies, very finely chopped
30ml calamansi juice, or lime juice
250ml Filipino cane or coconut vinegar
Salt and black pepper
300g sushi-grade sea bream fillet, cut into 2cm cubes
300g boneless pork belly, skin on

In a large bowl, mix the cucumber, onion, ginger, chillies, calamansi juice, 60ml of the vinegar and a pinch each of salt and ground black pepper, then put in the fridge to chill and marinate for about an hour.

In a second bowl, soak the bream in the remaining vinegar, then put in the fridge to marinate for 10 minutes. Drain the fish, then, using your hands, gently squeeze out any excess vinegar.

While the fish is marinating, grill the pork belly until cooked through and the crackling is crisp, then remove and leave to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, cut into chunks roughly the same size as the bream.

Stir the pork belly and bream into the cucumber mix, transfer to a platter or bowl and serve.

Pork belly sisig

Sisig is traditionally made with pig’s head and liver, but I like to use pork belly, because it contrasts nicely with the spicy, tangy sauce. Sisig is a favourite pulutan dish, which essentially means food best enjoyed with an ice-cold beer. Serve as is, or with the Filipino staple, jasmine rice.

Prep 10 min
Marinate 1 hr
Cook 30 min
Serves 4

500g skin-on boneless pork belly, cut into 2½cm-thick slices
30ml soy sauce, ideally a Filipino one such as Datu Puti
30ml calamansi juice, or lime juice
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, peeled and cut into very small dice
60g mayonnaise
2 spring onions, very finely sliced – keep the green tops separate to use as a garnish
2 bird’s eye chillies, very finely sliced
4 medium eggs, fried, to serve (optional)

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Put the pork slices in a bowl, add half the soy sauce, half the calamansi juice, half the minced garlic and a pinch each of salt and ground pepper, and toss to coat. Transfer to a rack on an oven tray and roast for 20 minutes.

Once the pork is cooked through, remove and set aside to cool, then chop into small cubes – there’s no need to be too precise: you can be very rough and ready here.

Put the oil in a frying pan on a medium to high heat, then add three-quarters of the onions and saute, stirring, for a minute or two, just until they’re translucent. Add the remaining garlic, saute for another minute, then add the cubed pork and saute, stirring, for three to four minutes more, just to warm through. Stir in the remaining soy sauce, mayonnaise, spring onion whites and chillies, and stir-fry for another five or so minutes.Transfer the sisig to a platter, top with the fried eggs, if using, then scatter over the sliced spring onion greens and remaining citrus juice, and serve.

Longganisa

Longganisa is a Filipino sausage not dissimilar to Spanish chorizo – it’s spicy, garlicky and slightly sweet. You can have it Filipino-breakfast-style with garlic fried rice and a fried egg, known as longsilog, or form the sausage mix into burger patties and make your own version of a sausage-and-egg muffin.

Prep 5 min
Rest 2 hr+
Chill Overnight
Cook 10-12 min
Makes 12

1kg pork mince, ideally with a high (30%) fat ratio – supermarkets usually sell 8%-12% fat pork mince, so you’ll probably need to visit a butcher
35ml soy sauce, ideally a Filipino one such as Datu Puti
35ml Filipino cane or coconut vinegar
100g soft light brown sugar
150g finely minced garlic
1 tbsp annatto powder (AKA achiote), or sweet paprika
15g table salt
5g freshly ground white pepper
1 x 120cm-long sausage casing (optional – see method)
Olive oil, for frying

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients bar the sausage casings and olive oil until well mixed (alternatively, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to make life easier), then rest in the fridge for two to three hours – this stage is important, because it gives the flavours time to merge and the sausage mix to firm up.

Meanwhile, soak the sausage casing, if using, in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain and put in the fridge. Transfer the sausage mix into a sausage stuffer, then feed the sausage casing through the nozzle at the other end of the stuffer and tie a tight knot in the end. Fill the sausage casing with the sausage mixture, twisting the casing every 10cm to seal each section. Once all the sausage mix is in the casing, refrigerate the sausages uncovered overnight. Alternatively, form the meat mix into patties and chill.

To cook, coil the sausages in a pan, add a splash of water, cover and cook on a low heat until the water evaporates. Add a bit of oil, then slowly pan-fry the sausages, turning them until browned on both sides and cooked through. If you’re going down the patty route, just fry the sausage “burgers” in a little oil until browned, flip and repeat on the other side until cooked through.