April is celebrated as Filipino food month, and pork is a staple of the Filipino diet, appearing in various forms at almost every meal. Three pork dishes that can be prepared at home are sinuglaw, a combination of grilled pork belly and fish ceviche; sisig, a mix of onion and pork in a tangy sauce; and longganisa, a spicy Filipino sausage. Sinuglaw involves marinating cucumber, onion, ginger, chillies, calamansi juice or lime juice, and fish ceviche in vinegar or citric acid, and putting in the fridge to chill for about an hour. Bream and cooked pork belly are then added and served. Sisig revamps the traditional pig’s head and liver with pork belly, soy sauce, calamansi juice or lime juice, garlic, onion, mayonnaise, spring onion whites, and chillies to make a spicy and tangy dish. Longganisa mixes pork mince with soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic, annatto powder or sweet paprika, salt and pepper. The mixture is rested in the fridge for two to three hours before filling the sausage casings or forming the mix into patties and chilling overnight. The sausages are then pan-fried until browned and cooked through.
