It’s been a long debate if sisig should have eggs and mayo in it.

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The answer is No.

Thanks, but Kapampangans aren’t having any of it. Officially claiming it as an original Kapampangan creation, the Angeles City government officially claimed sisig as “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by the Sangguniang Panglungsod through Ordinance No. 405, Series of 2017 of Angeles City.  This was done in order to preserve the original sisig and protect it from further cultural appropriation.

In other words, you can’t call it ‘Sisig’ if it has egg or mayo in it.

 

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According to the Kapampangangs themselves, Restaurant Sisig is far from the homegrown version they know and grew up with. Sisig is a very simple dish made with pork jowls, pork ears, and pork brains. As a substitute for pork brains, they use chicken liver but not mayonnaise. Locals have a saying, “kapag ang sisig may itlog, torta yun.”

 

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Authentic Kapampangan sisig is served on a sizzling plate with no mayo or egg.

Historian Mike Pangilinan commented, “For us Kapampángans, cooking is not a mere hobby or a past time. It is an essential part of our identity. It is an expression of who we are as a people. It is our soul. Therefore we get hurt and angry whenever somebody steals our soul and identity and calls it simply Filipino food rather than Kapampangan dish. Worse is when you twist it and play around with it to the point that we can no longer recognise ourselves in it.”