Tita Lydia’s Trout Sisig
Tita Lydia’s Trout Sisig
My love for food and my now love for cooking is heavily influenced by my family. You can say that I grew up surrounded by foodies — my parents, grand parents, aunts and uncles and even their friends were always talking about food, where to get the best food and some of them were also excellent cooks. Within my family, my grandmother or Lola was the queen. She grew up in the seaside town of Malabon in the Philippines and had an excellent palate that also came through her cooking. We judge all Filipino food by her gold standard. When she passed away quite a few years ago, Tita Lydia (her daughter and my aunt), carried her legacy but her years of living in the US and also her deep interest in cooking further refined my Lola’s dishes. She refined based on ingredients that are available, always prioritizing quality and what is local. She also loved all food so she applied cooking techniques she learned from other cultures that elevated the dishes from their humble home cooking roots. She taught people how to cook from her home studio and to get an invite to her lunches or dinners is a coveted opportunity because she is a consummate entertainer.
Over the last few months, I’ve spent some time with Tita Lydia to start to pull together our family recipes and also the recipes that she is well known for so we can start to document this for ourselves and also for the next generation of our family. I’ve visited her twice in the Bay Area and we’ve cooked together, shared stories and documented close to 30 recipes for her website that we are still building. This Trout Sisig recipe is one that she shared with me and I was amazed how easy it is to make. Fish dishes often intimidate me because cooking seafood is not as forgiving as cooking meat. However, this particular recipe is one that I found to be easy to make especially when entertaining because it is so simple but so good and also looks quite impressive. I’ve made it a few times – at home for my partner and myself and also for Luna’s birthday lunch for the first time for friends.
The most important part is really acquiring the fish. It requires fresh whole trout. Depending on the size of the trout the meat can vary from white to pink. For this recipe, smaller trout (around 1 to 1.5 lbs) with white meat is preferred. Traditionally, milkfish or bangus is used but that is hard to find fresh in the US. In the West Coast, it’s quite easy to find trout in your local market and it works quite well for this dish. When you purchase your fish, you can have it cleaned, butterflied and deboned making it ready for use at home with your fishmonger doing all the work. The rest, you will find, is quite simple.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you are Filipino (and a practicing Catholic), it’s perfect for Good Friday. That’s a bonus and not a requirement for making this dish. 😂
♥️Tricia
INGREDIENTS
2 Fresh Whole Trout, cleaned, skin on & deboned (1 lb each)*
1 medium Red Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 Jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground
2-3 tbsp Mayonnaise
2-3 tbsp Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Cooking Spray
Scallions, chopped for garnish
1 1/2 Lemon, 1/2 lemon for cooking and 1 full lemon sliced into wedges for serving
NOTE: This recipe serves 4-6 people.
*FRESH WHOLE TROUT - This recipe traditionally uses Milkfish or Bangus. Since fresh Milkfish is harder to find where we live, we have substituted Fresh Trout which is readily available. It is advisable to prioritize locally fresh fish applying the same technique we are using to cook the fish. Additionally, the fish skin is important as it adds a texture that is needed in the dish. Also, your local fishmonger can help with cleaning and deboning the fish.
METHOD
STEP 1
Set oven to Broil.
PREPARE & COOK THE FISH.
Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and spray evenly with cooking spray. Pat the fish dry on both sides with a paper towel to remove any moisture. Season the fish generously on both sides with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil (especially the skin side) and position on the sheet pan with the skin side down.
Place the fish on the middle rack of the oven and broil until the fish skin is a crisp golden brown, approximately 10 minutes. Watch this closely as oven temperatures vary to ensure that the fish does not overcook and burn. Turn off the oven.
When the fish is cooked remove from the oven and using a fork carefully separate the meat from the skin and place in a bowl. Position the fish skin on the baking sheet and place back into the warm oven. This process will keep the skin crispy when serving.
TIP: If the skin is not thoroughly crispy all over after the meat is removed, you can place it back in the oven to broil some more until it reaches the desired golden brown. Make sure to not leave the oven as this process can happen fast to ensure that the fish skin does not burn
STEP 2
MAKING THE TROUT SISIG.
In a wok or sauté pan, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions until translucent, then add the garlic, ginger and the flaked trout. Season with salt and pepper and add the jalapeño. Continue stirring for another 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, mayonnaise and the juice of half a lemon and stir. Remove from heat and mix thoroughly.
TIP: Do not over stir the mixture as you don’t want the fish to break down too much that it looses its integrity and starts to disintegrate. Try to maintain some of the chunkiness of the flaked fish as much as possible. Additionally, you may need to adjust the soy sauce, mayo and lemon mixture depending on how much fish meat you have and season accordingly. Make sure to taste along the way to make this determination.
STEP 3
PLATING THE TROUT SISIG.
Remove the fish skins from the oven and place on a serving platter. Scoop the fish flakes on top and garnish with scallions and lots of fresh lemons. You need that acid for this dish.
Enjoy!
