Recipe & Resources: Oyster Mushroom & Crispy Tofu Sisig
Ingredients (Serving 4-6):
10oz Firm Tofu, pressed and cubed to bite-sized pieces
16oz Oyster Mushrooms, chopped to bite-sized pieces
2 Bay Leaves
Pinch of Chili Flakes
3oz Red Onion, medium dice
1tbsp Ginger, peeled and grated
6 Garlic Cloves, minced
4tsp Calamansi Juice
3tbsp Soy Sauce, preferably Datu Puti or UFC
4 heaping tbsp Mayonnaise
Kosher Salt, preferably Diamond Crystal
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Garlic Oil
Splash of Water
Toppings:
1 Scallion Stalk, sliced thinly on bias
Fried Minced Garlic
Instructions:
Press firm tofu by lining a sheet tray with doubled-over paper towels. Lay the tofu on the tray and cover with another layer of doubled-over paper towels. Place a cutting board, or another flat surface, on top and weigh down the tofu using books or cans. 15-30 minutes to squeeze out excess moisture is fine.
This ensures that the tofu will not easily break apart while cooking and can brown more easily when frying.
Cube into bite-sized pieces once time is complete.
Coat a preheated, 12-inch pan with a light film of garlic oil. On medium to medium-high heat, add the cubed tofu and toss until sides are evenly golden brown.
You can make garlic oil at home by placing peeled cloves of garlic in a saucepan and adding neutral-flavored oil until garlic can be fully submerged. Bring up the temperature of your oil until small bubbles surround the cloves of garlic. Simmer until cloves are fork tender or golden and caramelized (up to you) and remove them from the pan. Cool the garlic oil and store in the fridge for further use.
Remove the tofu from the pan and drain on paper towels. Lightly salt the fried tofu as they are still hot.
Add your chopped oyster mushrooms to the pan with leftover garlic oil. Stir around to coat the mushrooms with garlic oil and add a splash of water to the pan. Cover the pan immediately to avoid splatters and let the mushrooms steam.
This method steams the mushrooms so that they can brown at a faster rate. The mushrooms won’t soak in more oil than needed as well.
Check to see if mushrooms are steamed and remove the lid. Let excess water, if any, evaporate. Toss the mushrooms until they start to brown.
Lower the heat to medium and add bay leaves + red chili flakes. Toss to distribute flavor.
At this point, you may need to add more garlic oil for more even cooking.
Add half of your chopped red onion and cook until translucent-looking.
Add grated ginger and garlic. Cook until garlic turns a light brown color.
Prepare your cast iron serving platter, if using, by placing it on high heat on another burner.
Continue to stir for even cooking and deglaze the pan by adding calamansi juice and soy sauce. Scrape up any bits of mushrooms that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Cut the heat and add mayonnaise. Stir around until all ingredients in the pan are coated thoroughly.
Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Serve on a sizzling platter while hot.
Top with remaining red onions, scallions, and fried minced garlic.
Resources
Culinary Coaching
Want to continue your cooking journey? I’m currently looking for beta testers for a 1:1 culinary coaching program. This program will be centered around fundamental culinary techniques, kitchen confidence, and intuitive home cooking. If you or someone you know may be interested in learning more, I’d love to hear from you!
Food Writing
Tikim by Doreen Fernandez | Popularly known as the Filipino food bible, Tikim is a collection of essays on food and culture written by food critic and scholar, Doreen Fernandez. More about Doreen and her work here.
If you’d like to get a taste of Doreen’s writing, you can jump into Culture Ingested: On the Indigenization of Phillipine Food.
The Governor-General’s Kitchen: Philippine Culinary Vignettes and Period Recipes (1521-1935) by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria | This book gathers interesting and little-known stories from historical sources about the Philippines’ culinary culture from 1521 to 1935. From efforts to stem hunger in a pioneering Spanish colony to early lumpia, this is a must-have for those wanting a deep dive.
Savor the Word: 10 Years of the Doreen Fernandez Food Writing Award | Savor the Word is a beautiful compilation of over 55 winning entries of the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award, established in 2002. Every story and recipe in this book portrays what Filipino food is all about.
Cookbooks
*Adobo Road Cookbook by Marvin Galputos | Chef Marvin Gapultos demonstrates that delicious Filipino food can be prepared anywhere--from Manila to Los Angeles and everywhere in between. Fun fact: I prepared my first adobo using this book.
*I Am A Filipino by Miguel Trinidad and Nicole Ponseca | Popular chef and restauranteurs, Miguel and Nicole, are known for their restaurants, Jeepney and Maharlika, in New York. They wrote a cookbook that highlights the many flavors of the Philippines and their book also defines basic Filipino cooking techniques.
Podcasts
Exploring Filipino Kitchens by Nastasha Alli | Exploring Filipino Kitchens is a podcast about Filipino food culture, traditions, and history. Each episode, host Nastasha Alli chats with food lovers across the world to ask: what does your Filipino kitchen look like?
Book Shops
Filipino Food Crawl, Online - Please tell my friend, Raf, that I sent you! He just added new books to his site.
Mentioned throughout the class:
Diaspora Co. - A BIPOC-led, Bay Area business that’s decolonizing the spice trade by actually caring about farmers in India + sharing and deepening relationships and stories + providing some of the best, aromatic spices available? Yes, please.
Filipino Food Movement & Filipino Food Movement AU - So many dishes and stories are shared on these Instagram pages. Keep up with what’s happening by giving them a follow.
Hedley and Bennett - Liked my apron and on the hunt to get one? Here’s the one I wore during class.
Tools:
*Microplane - Also known as a rasp. Use to grate parmesan, zest citrus, shave chocolate.
*Bench Scraper - Scoop up mise en place, clean your work surface, cut dough.
Wusthof Knives - These are the knives I have and use on a daily basis.
Global Knives - These are the knives I’m looking to get next. They’re lighter in weight compared to Wusthof.
Nacional Bladeworks - Knives from the Philippines?! Yes, I’m saving my money for one of these babies.
*10-inch Cast-iron Pan - Heavy-duty, hard sear meats, can be placed in an oven.
*All-Clad Pots and Pans - Pots and pans that are versatile and can last a lifetime.
*Fish Spatula - Not only for fish. Does a great job at scraping, scooping, flipping.
*Disclaimer: Some links above are affiliate links. Clicking the links will come at no cost to you but helps creatives like me continue doing the work I do. Thank you!