Sizzling Sisig at Mila's Tokwa't Baboy, Angeles City

Editor’s Note: This post is slightly edited and originally entitled Finding the Best Sisig at its Birthplace.

If I want to do get out of the Metro and do a food trip without travelling too far, Angeles City comes to mind. Located in the province of Pampanga, which is dubbed as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines, Angeles is home to many legendary restaurants and world-class chefs. No wonder that the American chef Anthony Bourdain (RIP) visited the city for his show No Reservations. You just can’t leave this place without experiencing its gastronomic wonders.

Angeles is also the birthplace of a Filipino favorite: the Sisig! Sisig is traditionally a dish made of chopped pig ears/cheeks and chicken liver, mixed with onions and seasoned with calamansi and sili (chilli). It started out as a bar food but is now accepted as a viand. It also evolved into different forms. Some have egg and mayonnaise on it while others use chicken and fish instead of pork. Some even fuse it with international cuisine, such as paella and tacos.

So how did sisig come to existence? When the U.S. Air Force was still stationed in Clark Air Base, commissaries would just throw away unused pig heads. Finding it a waste, the locals offered to purchase these unwanted pig parts. They boiled and seasoned it, turning it into a dish that would be the precursor to modern sisig. Talk about Filipino resourcefulness!

But the sisig we now know today will find its roots to Aling Lucing’s. The owner, the late Lucia Cunanan a.k.a. “Sisig Queen”, brought the dish to another level by grilling the boiled pig ears and cheeks, adding pig brains and chicken livers, and serving it in sizzling plates. Fortunately, the restaurant is still open, serving the iconic dish.

So one day, I went to Angeles to do a sisig crawl. Here are 3 sisig spots that I visited:

Aling Lucing’s Sisig

We just got to start the crawl with the original. The sisig here is fattily good, a bit sour, and has a nice char flavor. It’s just so good a dish! No wonder it gets a good praise from Bourdain!

Aside from sisig, Aling Lucing’s has awesome grilled items on their menu. Among my favorites are tainga ng baboy (pork ears), inihaw na manok (grilled chicken), and puwet ng manok (chicken butts). I’m not sure what kind of marinade they use. But they serve these items smothered in a ketchup-like sauce. Ketchup-like sauce? Yeah! But don’t be deceived because this sauce, even though it looks simple and tastes like ketchup, brings the grilled items a higher notch!

Aling Lucing’s is truly a food heaven. Aside from the fact that it was visited by Bourdain (accompanied by Angeles’ very own Chef Claude Tayag), it was ranked 4th in the Top 50 World Street Food Masters by the World Street Food Congress. So foodies, if you haven’t been to this place, do yourself a favor by visiting it soon!

Mila’s Tokwa’t Baboy

Mila’s serves a different kind of sisig. Unlike Aling Lucing’s, theirs is crispy. It’s also fatty and some bits are slightly chewy. Though it’s good, I still prefer Aling Lucing’s. I want my sisig to be grilled than fried or “crispified” (I made that word) so it has a nice char flavor to it.

But I can’t go on without trying their Tokwa’t Baboy (tofu and pork). After all, it’s what they’re known for! The tofu is delightfully crispy and puffy, and the pieces of pig ears are soft and fattily good (I’m getting used to this “fattily good” expression). The sauce doesn’t have the usual sweet taste. Rather, it’s a mix of salty and sour, with the sourness coming from calamansi I believe. Aside from red onion, it also has celery, which is an unusual ingredient for a tokwa’t baboy.

The tokwa’t baboy will make your Mila’s visit worth your while.

Intermission: Merienda at Susie’s Cuisine

Let’s take a break from the sisig crawl and have merienda (snacks). And what better place to have it than Susie’s Cuisine?!

Susie’s Cuisine is known for their kakanin (sticky rice cake), pancit (noodles), and other Filipino favorites. My go-to here is Pancit Palabok. The sauce is goopy and hearty. I love the crispy bits of chicharon (fried pork rind).

Among all their kakanin, the Moche, Rice Cake (yes, that’s the name), and Tibok-Tibok are my favorites. The Moche is soft and chewy, filled inside (I suspect its beans) and drowned in gata (coconut sauce). The Rice Cake is perfectly sweet and soft, having a burnt flavor on the top. And the Tibok-Tibok is just hearty and creamy.

From front to back: Moche (P7/pc.), Rice Cake (P18), and Tibok-Tibok (P22)

If you’re visiting the Nepo Mart branch (apparently, Susie’s Cuisine has many branches in Pampanga alone), just walk across and get some Buko (Coconut) Sherbet. It’s a nice way to refresh, especially in the summer heat.

Jun Jun’s Restaurant

Let’s get back to the crawl. This final stop is known for their barbecue but also serves good sisig. (I remember my first visit here when I was younger and have a bigger appetite. I made their sisig my rice to the barbecue!)

Jun Jun’s sisig is cooked the same way, if my taste buds serve me correctly, like Aling Lucing’s. However, it doesn’t have the same char flavor that Lucing’s sisig has.

Now let’s talk about what Jun Jun’s is known for--their awesome barbecue! Their Pork BBQ is generous, while the Chicken BBQ is just awesome! It doesn’t have the usual sweet marinade that we Filipinos are used to. Its marinade just has a slight sweetness to it.

Pork BBQ (P70/stick) and Chicken BBQ (P75/stick)

Jun-Jun’s is also known for their bibingka (rice cake). I got the salted egg variety so I expected that there will be egg slices on top as it usually does. But I was wrong because the salted egg is mixed in the batter! Wow! The bibingka is also not too sweet, which makes for a perfect end to a meal in Jun-Jun (and to my sisig crawl).

Bibingka with Salted Egg (P85; it's served whole)

Bonus: Angeles Fried Chicken (AFC)

I didn’t get to visit this place during my sisig crawl. But I was able to try their sisig before and it’s also good (I think that any sisig in Angeles is good, even way better than in any place). I just forgot the taste so I couldn’t write any more specifics down here.

Obviously, their specialty is fried chicken. Want to imagine how it tastes? Just think of KFC! It’s even served with rolls or rice (does KFC still serve dinner rolls?) and coleslaw. I can’t help but think that AFC is a knockoff of KFC, maybe even better.

Prices depend on the combo. But all combos are affordable!

Another AFC favorite is the fried Liver & Gizzard. This dish is so good!

Before I forget: The only thing that AFC didn’t match against KFC is the gravy. Nothing beats KFC’s!

the winner

I don’t know if you noticed but I already have a preference since the beginning, and that is Aling Lucing’s. The way their sisig is prepared (and maybe even the ingredients) makes the difference. It’s grilled and charred to perfection. I guess nothing beats the original! (To be fair, it’s clear from the names of Mila’s, Jun-Jun’s, and AFC what they’re good at.)

Did I miss any good sisig in Angeles? If I did, let me hear you in the comments section.

PS By the way, this entry is the first in the 3-part Angeles Food Trip series. Check out the other 2 articles: Downtown Cafe by Chef Claude Tayag | Cafe Fleur by Chef Sau del Rosario

PPS If you want to read more on the history of sisig, you can read Pepper.ph’s fascinating article. Read it here.

Angeles Food Trip: The Search for the Best Sisig at its Birthplace