There was a time last year when I craved for one of our local dishes called Sisig. It is a Filipino dish that is usually made of pork chopped into small cubes. Another variation is made of boneless milkfish. I actually intend to make one using milkfish but unfortunately, it's not available when I tried to look for it that time. I didn't have much time left to buy my stocks before a higher restriction is imposed here due to the Delta variant of Covid back then. I only have cream dory that time so I used it as a substitute to improvise a variation of sisig dish. I cooked it using the most basic ingredients. The measurement of the ingredients is up to you since it depends on the serving and the flavor you prefer to stand out. This new variation I improvised gave me excitement so I decided to share this recipe. Here are the details for this fish fillet sisig.
INGREDIENTS
Marinate the Fish
The first thing to do is to marinate the main ingredient. I marinated the cream dory fish in oyster sauce, pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and calamansi extract. Mix them thoroughly and marinate the fish for 30 minutes.
Slice the Ingredients
While marinating the fish, I sliced the garlic and ginger into small bits and diced the onions. After 30 minutes, I sliced the the marinated fish into small cubes. This is good for one serving since I eat alone. Now that the ingredients are prepared, it's time to cook.
Start Cooking
Fry the cream dory cubes. I choose to fry the fish using butter for more flavor and aroma. Fry it until golden brown and crispy. You can also fry it longer if you prefer it a bit toasted. Set it aside after frying.
Saute the Ingredients
After frying the fish, saute the garlic, onion and ginger in butter. I didn't use oil for the entire process of cooking this recipe. I added the fish and mixed it with the rest of the ingredients after I saute them. Add soy sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Make some adjustments until you achieve the flavor you prefer.
You can add bell pepper strips and egg on this dish. A Sisig dish usually include those ingredients regardless of variation (pork or milkfish). I wasn't able to add them since I ran out of those ingredients and I can't go out that much due to higher restrictions imposed here back then because of Covid Delta variant. This is another reason why I improvised the Sisig dish. You can also add chili if you prefer a hot and spicy Sisig. Mayonnaise is also optional. Some people drizzle it with mayonnaise.
Enjoy the Meal
For the final touch, serve the fish fillet Sisig with rice. We Filipinos eat our meals with our staple food, rice. I had this fish fillet Sisig meal for lunch. It's a sumptuous and heavy meal indeed. It filled my stomach that I wasn't able to eat dessert afterwards.
We may be having a limited movement due to more restrictions brought about by the Delta variant that time, but looking at the bright side, it was able to bring out more creativity in preparing meals. I enjoyed improvising a meal that filled my stomach while I stay safe at home. Feel free to try this recipe. It's simple and easy to prepare and it really goes well with rice. Have fun in the kitchen and enjoy the meal.
