If you could peer into every pantry in Los Angeles, you would find RITZ stocked in a fair amount of them. The city is home to countless cultures, many of which have fully embraced the salty-sweet, buttery-tasting cracker, even incorporating it into their family’s beloved recipes.
In the upcoming Bon Appétit and RITZ Crackers video series, “A Taste of the Holidays,” we meet the Magsaysay family, who share the history of the Sisig recipe both culturally and within their home.
Donna and Raymond Magsaysay and their four children are a Filipino family living in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. Their pantry stocks all the essentials of the country they left in 2004—a huge bucket of rice, fish sauce, shrimp paste, banana ketchup—as well as RITZ, which Alessandra, their daughter, loves snacking on, and about which Raymond says: “It’s a staple.”
Raymond, a chef in the Phillipines and in the U.S., where he often cooked Sisig, a dish that dates back to the 1700’s. When he cooks Sisig for his family, he opts for pork belly and ears and chicken liver, all of which he boils, then grills, then chills, before sautéing with butter, garlic, onion and ginger. This mixture is folded into lemony mayo, and either served as a main course, on a hot sizzling plate in the middle of the table, or as an appetizer, spooned atop individual RITZ Crackers, whose crisp butteriness stands up to the dish’s richness. Raymond likes to say that the dish is a great introduction to Filipino food. “For me,” said Raymond, “being Filipino means family. The food, the kitchen—everything revolves around it.”
Stay tuned for the upcoming video series “A Taste of the Holidays,” hosted by Associate Food Editor, Rachel Gurjar.
Ingredients
3
2
1
3
2
2
2
1
¼
½
¼
1
1
¼
1
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pig ears, bay leaf and black pepper to the pot. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until meat is tender (a tip of a knife should slide through pretty easily), about 45 minutes. Add the pork belly and chicken liver to the pot and simmer for 15 minutes more. Drain and transfer meat to a plate.
Step 2
Heat a grill to medium-high and oil the grates. Grill the meat, turning halfway through, until lightly charred on each side, about 2 minutes per side for the liver and 5 minutes per side for the pig ears and pork belly. Remove the meat to a plate and let cool slightly. On a work surface, chop the meats into small pieces.
Step 3
Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until light golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Add the chopped meats and cook, stirring occasionally, until meats are lightly browned, about 3 minutes more.
Step 4
In a large bowl whisk mayo, liquid amino seasoning, lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and green onions until combined. Scrape the meat mixture from the skillet into the bowl and toss to combine.
Serve warm on a hot sizzling plate with RITZ Crackers.