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Sixty kilos of pork. Look, it's wobbling! And today, we're eating the best, most iconic Kapampangan food all in one day, including crispy pork belly that requires protective gear to cook. That is a lot of sizzling pork. And a sizzling flaming hot dish that was invented right here, and is now one of the most famous Filipino foods of all time. That is the real deal Kapampangan way. And stick around till the very end, because the last place we'll visit turned out to be my favorite meal of the whole day. I never saw it coming. The greatest well-rounded flavor. So, why is Filipino food in Pampanga so famous?
We're about to find out. Good morning! It's 8:00 AM and, today, we're going to be hanging out with my friend, Chez. He's from Pampanga. Chez, what's up? Thank you. Welcome to Pampanga. Good to see you, Mark. Tell us about this place. Where are we at? This place is called Batcha-Batchang Lutong Ulam. It's a very local Kapampangan eatery where everything is cooked in huge batches, and then they put it in a large basin. Very, very, very unique. And, uh, all the locals love it here.
We're heading directly into the kitchen. Hey, what's up, chef? Nice to meet you. Okay. Oh, man. So, you step inside here, you already see these huge basins of dishes that are ready to go, ready to be served. You can tell already, like, just the quantity, the vastness, the amount of food that they cook here. The action is incredible here! There's so much. There's just kilos, hundreds of kilos of pork. It's deep-fried, it's blowtorched, it's chopped up. There's like sprays of pork fat juicing all over the place within the humidity of this kitchen.
And they're just getting started on this other dish which is the lengua, I believe. Oh! Oh, the creaminess, the milkiness. Then what is that? Chez? Very secret ingredient. Yeah. So, you will not be able to copy it, the dish, because it's very special, and it's one of their best seller. That's one of their signature dishes? Yeah. Okay. Something we have to try, right? Yes. Man, they do everything in massive batches here. It's a Jacuzzi. But this is such a unique dish because it's called lengua, which means tongue. But the meat is actually not tongue.
There's mushrooms in here. There's evaporated milk. All the meat is in here. It looks like a creamy, like a creamy gravy. Almost like a, a milky stew. Mark, look how they cook their rice. I thought that was a refrigerator. No. Okay. Whoa! It's like a steamer. Half refrigerator. They use a lot. They go through a lot of rice here every day, huh? Instead of rice cooker. They're using.
The commercial steamer. A massive. Look. Half refrigerator. Whoa! It's a huge tray of rice! Fresh tray of rice going out. Whoa! It's. Oh, that looks perfectly cooked, too. Okay. We're gonna help. Let's see if we can pick this up, Chez. This one's very heavy. Wow! Around sixty kilograms. Sixty kilos of pork. Look, it's wobbling! Okay. Chef is starting on a fresh batch of the pork.
Oh, it's just wobbling. Okay, and that's going over to the oil. Okay, that goes in. Oh, man. You know things are getting serious when a construction grade welding mask goes on. So, that pork is going to fry for about 30 minutes. It's going to get so golden, so crispy. Man, I am drenching in sweat. My mouth is watering. Let's go eat. Man, they have over 20 different dishes every day to choose from. This place is so busy, and we're actually here still early in the morning. It's not even lunchtime yet, right? Yeah. Yeah, lunchtime actually is the busiest And it will be packed and they'll sell out of everything, here.
Okay. Yeah. right? You saw there's like hundreds of kilos of pork being made in the kitchen. But Chez chose us four different dishes. What's the, what's the first dish? Yeah. The very special, uh. is the beef lengua. It's their, their specialty here in Batcha-Batchang. Okay. Should we start with that? Yes, that's right. Here we go. Right. Very excited to try this. That milky, creamy sauce. Okay. Onto the rice. There's also mushrooms in here, too.
I'm gonna go for some of that creamy sauce. Right, here we go. To start off a big day of food in Pampanga. Cheers! Oh, wow. Yeah. That's like a creamy, milky stew. Very creamy. Yeah. And very tender. Yeah, the meat, the meat melts in your mouth. Yeah. There's tendon in there. There's mushrooms in there. Really, yeah. No wonder. This is the very special. One of their specialty dishes.
Yeah. We need another bite of this. The, the beef lengua. Before we proceed to the next dish. Yeah, just completely melts in your mouth. Good for partnered with rice. Perfect. Okay, Chez, the next dish. What, what should we try? Do you remember inside the kitchen, we saw how the lechon kawali is prepared, they wear the, the construction mask. The construction grade.
Yeah. So, it's skin, it's fat, it's pork belly. It's meat. And not only deep fried, but then it's blowtorched and then it's chopped. Yeah. Yeah, it's like. yeah, extremely crispy. Here we go. Cheers. Oh, wow. You hear the sound of the crack? You got an extra crispy piece of skin there. Yeah. I got more of that meaty side. It's still crispy on the outside, but, like, creamy and tender and moist. Oh, wow. Man, that's why they were cooking, like, mountains of it.
I'm sure they're gonna, they're gonna sell a lot of that. The crunch, the fat, the meat, the saltiness. Oh. Yeah. They've got the recipe down. Okay, man. Should we try, this dish is really, really interesting. I don't think I've seen anything else like it in the Philippines. Yeah. It's a Kapampangan dish. It's called Sipo egg. It's because it has a quail egg on it.
Ah! And what, what is the meat? Is that like, it looks like ham. Yeah. Ham, yeah. Oh, it is. Okay. Egg and ham or just egg? It's something that's like some egg. Or everything? Okay. Yeah. All right. It almost feels like a. like an appetizer at a party. Exactly. Yeah. The ham is really tender. You got this creamy sauce, like a dressing. The sweetness of the carrots and the, the quail eggs.
Just one quick question. We're in Pampanga. Yes. Uh, right now we're in Angeles city. Geographically, Angeles is in Pampanga, but it is declared as an independent city. Yeah. Oh, okay. So, you have Pampanga, which is the. the province or the region, but then you have. is it Kapampangan? Kapampangan. Kapampangan. Okay, Kapampangan. Yeah. Who are the people, or you say, like, Kapampangan food and a person from Pampanga is a Kapampangan. Okay. That's something very important to know throughout this day as we're in Pampanga.
Yeah. Is a Kapampangan. And whenever you taste food and you like it, you can say Manyaman. It means delicious. Manyaman. And that's in Kapampangan? Yeah, that's a Kapampangan word. And you can always tell that to the cook to compliment or to salute. Okay. That's going to be extremely important today as well. Manyaman. And if you want to say, uh, it's good in this place or it's delicious in this place. Manyaman keni. That's right.
How is that? Manyaman keni. You, you pronounce it like a local. Yeah, yeah. Manyaman keni. Okay. It sounds good. It's like, now I just got to remember that. Manyaman keni. Okay, Chez, what's this dish? So, this one is called begukan in Kapampangan. In Tagalog it's called binagoongan. But in English, uh, it's a pork with shrimp paste. Oh, man. Big chunks of pork. I think we need to just put this whole chunk of pork on the plate. Oh. You can guarantee everything is going to be tender to the max.
You see some chilies in here? Let's break a piece of that pork. Get that chili on there. Mix it with the rice. Okay. Here we go. Wow. You immediately taste that shrimp paste. Yeah. The complexity of it. Actually, it's spicy. I got a piece of that chili, too. Yeah. Add some spice to it. And then it also has this kind of like a. a little bit of a sweet and sour flavor as well. Yeah. But then that's balanced by the shrimp paste.
Sweet, sour, and salty at the same time. I think it's lechon kawali then they pour the sauce. I think so. The shrimp sauce, yeah. Then they pour. But guaranteed, every piece of meat that you get here is just gonna melt in your mouth. It's so tender. So, this would also be a dish that is. Very Kapampangan. A very Kapampangan dish. Okay. Yeah. There's also versions on the other provinces, but we have our own version as well. Wow. That dish is amazing. But really, everything you can eat here, whatever you choose from the lineup, you can guarantee it's going to be tasty by the amount of people, by the quantities that they cook here. Okay.
One, two, three! Batcha-Batchang Ulam! Thank you! Thank you very much! But if you really want to taste what makes Kapampangan food different, there's one meat this region is obsessed with, and this next spot has been perfecting it for generations. And actually, this is bringing back a lot of memories because you might have seen the video. Oh, man. It was. I think it was about 10 years ago, my last trip to Pampanga. That was the last time I've been in Pampanga, um, and we ate at this same restaurant that we're about to go to. But things have changed a little bit. I remember last time, you just walk into a yard, literally, like in this forest, in this yard,
and there was this shack with some of the greatest goat caldereta you could possibly eat in all of the Philippines. Things have changed a little bit. It's like maybe the adjacent yard, and within their courtyard, there's tables. Let's see if the food is as good as I remember it. So, this one will be the caldereta. Yes. Okay, great. The adobo. Oh, that will be with duck? Yes, the duck. And we got here just in time to see some of the cooking process, Okay. but they're famous for caldereta.
They're famous for goat meat. They're famous for duck as well. This is for the adobo. Onions, garlic, chilies go in. So how many years has your family had this restaurant? Uh. for almost 15 to 20 years. Okay, very cool. My mother. Oh, okay, okay. Okay, hello, hello, hello! She's the one who prepared the food for you. Last time, last time we were here. Yeah, we were with our good friend KF Seetoh. Soy sauce. Oh, vinegar goes in now. Oh, that smells amazing. Oh, what is that?
Liver spread. Yeah. Oh, what an ingredient. That goes into the adobo. This is the duck. And then the broth goes in. And that's going to simmer until. Oh, the flavors mingle, come together. So, now, onto the caldereta. Now that the vegetables are browned, garlic goes in. Onions, that's the base. Don't forget the chilies.
Yes. Tomato paste. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. That's an important part is, the tomato paste goes in. A bit of soy sauce goes in. Oh, more tomato sauce goes in. Combination of tomato paste with tomato sauce. Okay. That's going to give it its signature red color, plus the. the tanginess.
Some of the liver spread, that's like an unexpected ingredient. And then those vegetables go back in. And here's the goat meat, pre-cooked goat meat. And the broth. That smells unbelievable. Both dishes, both with totally different ingredients. You've got the adobo with that vinegar-based soy sauce that it's braising in, and then the caldereta with that tomato sauce.
The tomato paste, the vegetables in there, all the onions and garlic simmered down. That's gonna stew together. That's gonna come together, bring the flavors together. My mouth is watering. The goat sinigang. Sour soup. Goat sinigang over here on the fire. The soup. Slow cooking over the fire. Okay, next dish. All those organs. Oh! Nice. We're moving over to the fire to see the next dish, and that's all the skin of the goat, plus the liver that's going to toast over the fire.
Kind of like char over the fire to give it aroma, and we'll see what happens after that. But it's going to be a really unique dish that I don't remember trying last time. Extremely excited. Listen to that crackle. Wow, that aroma is coming out. The smokiness of that skin. It's popping, it's hissing. Oh! And that skin goes directly into a pan of vinegar. Whoa! Now that the goat skin has been soaking in vinegar, and it's going to be chopped up into pieces. What a unique dish. Okay.
Caldereta is ready. Oh, that smells amazing. And this one is the duck adobo. Oh, this one is the organs. Nice. Thanks, man. Thank you! Chez, next meal. Goat. Goat dishes. Amazing. I am so excited to be back here after 10 years. And the food looks exactly how I remember it, but I think we have even more dishes this time. Chez, what's the strategy? I think we should start with the soup because we don't want it to be. True, true. to become cold, so while it's hot we need to, like, It's gotta be hot.
Oh, so we actually have, this is the same sinigang broth, sip. Oh, yeah. but in mugs. It's a beverage Yeah. to start with. Yeah. Oh, wow. Oh, that is straight up medicinal. The flavor of the bones of the, the goat, plus that sourness. Yeah. It's been boiling for how many hours. Like, three hours at minimum. They're boiling this sinigang. That is incredible. What is the sourness coming from? Is it coming from.
Tamarind. Ah, okay, okay. Yeah, the tamarind. That's why it's called sinigang. We, we use tamarind for sinigang. Okay. It has that wonderful. Oh, man. It is so beautifully sour and salty. And, of course, you've already tasted the, the soup, so you have to try the. It's the broth. The meat. The meat of the goat. Okay. We have some chilies that's coming soon. Yeah. Of course, for sinigang, they use fish sauce.
Oh, okay. For, for this one. It's called patis. That's the fish sauce? Yes, it's the fish sauce. Okay. Okay, now you get goat meat, and then, it's better if you put some leaves or the greens. Uh-huh. Get a big chunk. Get a big chunk of meat. Get some of that meat. And now, you want to get a chilies. A chili, yes. What a move. All together. In one bite. Okay. Try it. That's the method? Okay, okay. I'm gonna follow The sour of the tamarind. Chez's move.
Yeah, yeah. Goat sinigang. All right, so the sour and the salty side of the chilies. That is incredible. Oh, wow. The sourness of the tamarind. The bone broth from the goat melts in your mouth. Then with that, yeah, that punch of salty fish sauce and the chilies. Yeah. It's like, to balance the sourness and the. You put a little saltiness of the fish sauce. And then you can chase it with your sinigang in a cup.
Yeah. Oh, that's soothing. Wow, that's tasty. Love it. Oh, what a combination. Now, maybe you want to try the, the kilawin, because you haven't tried that 10 years ago. I think it's not available before. Here we go. Let's go to the kilawin. Okay. Squeeze the calamansi. Mix it a little bit. Mix it? Yeah. The stickiness of the sauce and marinated in vinegar as well. You see the char of the skin. And you want the chili?
Oh, yeah. This is a challenge. You want to do a one bite? Yeah. Maybe we can survive this. Oh, one bite one there. Yeah, we're with Mark Wiens, so we should eat this. It's not spicy, not eating. Gotta do a one. Let's see how spicy this chili is. All right. Kind of crunchy. Chili. Wow, that is. You can really taste the, like, pure flavor of the goat in that skin. Yeah. It's kind of creamy texture inside. The sourness marinated in vinegar.
It also has like a. like, you feel the stickiness of the organs, like the collagen, the gelatin coming out of that goat. That is. The combination of all the textures, like the, the onions crunchy. Natural. The, the, the skin is too soft. The difference between kinilaw and kilawin is, kilawin is cooked. Yeah, kilawin is cooked. Kinilaw is raw. Okay. Cooked in vinegar. Okay. But this one was grilled, so it's kilawin. So, it's kilawin and it's cooked skin. That's a unique combination. That's like. pure skin and gelatin, plus that smokiness,
plus that vinegariness, plus that heat of the chili. And maybe you want to try the duck? Yeah, adobo is almost the, the national dish in the Philippines. Mostly, it's chicken or it's pork, but here they have the duck version. That's amazing. Get some of that sauce, that gravy, some of the bell peppers. Oh, yes. The duck has also been pre-cooked, so it's tender with the rice, with the bell peppers, with that combination of garlic, the onions. Oh, wow.
It's kind of sweet, right? It's really rich. You really taste the. the aroma of the onions, and the garlic has been sauteed down. Yes. For adobo, it should be vinegar and the garlic, should always be present, or otherwise it's not adobo. Has to be those flavors, right? That profile. That's tasty too. Man, we're starting to warm up in Pampanga, though. Starting to sweat. Yeah, it's really hot. The dish is. the digestion, the chilies. But you can try this first because you want the papaitan to be hot.
Let's try this first. So, before it gets cold, you should try it. So, this is actually similar to the sinigang, just with the organs. Yeah, but this one is bitter. Oh, good. Let's do some other patis on this. Yeah, with that hint of bitterness, but it's not overpowering. And the bitterness is coming from bile? Yes, from bile. Some other places here in Pampanga, they use calamansi skin to make it bitter. But here, they're using bile.
Okay, okay. Goat bile. Yeah. You don't want it to go to waste. It's such a unique and special ingredient. Such a gourmet ingredient. All right, Chez, we've made it. Circled away, our way around all the dishes, and we gotta. Because we saved the best for last. Okay. The main event. Yeah, caldereta. Take some chop of meat here. That sauce. Oh, man. Thank you. Let's put some more sauce.
Yes, please. So, you should eat caldereta with more sauce on your rice. So, get a piece of that. Oh, oh, the tender goatiness. Yeah, it's really tender. You need that sauce. The caldereta. The legendary. The cat is. that cat is massaging me down there. Okay. No wonder. Bestseller. A legendary family recipe. They've been making it for over 20 years. Did it, did it change? Do you remember any?
It is the exact delicious flavor I still remember from 10 years ago. It's laid back. It's family-style. And one of the things that you know about goat is that it's not an easy meat to cook. Right. I agree. If you don't know how to cook it, it can have an off flavor, or it can be, like, chewy. It can have. A lot of things can go wrong. But their family are experts at goat. They know how to, how to treat goat, how to cook it, and every part of the goat as well, too, to fully utilize the full goat to its full potential.
They're all good. Like, I don't think you could choose a favorite dish. You wanna. you have to try it all. Plus the, the soup of sinigang. Don't, don't forget the sinigang. That broth is so good. Yeah. I'm gonna grab one more piece of that caldereta with the carrot. Oh, the tenderness. The goat. Look at the inside of that. Then you want to get maybe a bit of that carrot. You want to make sure you have adequate enough of that caldereta gravy and sauce flooded. And then to go the extra mile, you can just add more sauce.
That is pure goat comfort. And here's the entire Team Canlas digging in. How was the food, guys? Auntie, manyaman keni! Thank you. Thanks, man. Yeah, sure. Yes, sure. Thank you. Now, it was time for the moment I'd been waiting for all day, because just down the road are the railroad tracks where one woman invented a dish that changed Filipino food forever.
This is the first sisig of the day, but trust me, it would not be the last. So, I'm here in the grill cabinet with the grill master, and it all starts with these huge skewers of pig face. What's like big chunks of pig face. The snout, the fatty. You can see how fatty, how jiggly it is, and it's so fatty that as it's on that hot charcoal, it just hisses and pops. And then behind, you'll see that there's a whole rack of the sizzling, like, iron plates, which is a big part of the sizzling sisig recipe. Unfortunately, Aling Lucing, uh the queen of sisig, is no longer here, is no longer with us. But every time you come here to eat, she is remembered.
And I think across the Philippines, she is known as the queen of sisig. Every time anyone eats sisig, it all originates from this spot. Look at the amount of smoke, that fat. Wow! Okay, so once the pork is fully cooked, fully grilled, and absorbed all the smoke, it goes to the chopping block. And just with the double knives, he just like, slides, glides the cleavers through the pork. Just, it's like liquefying. It's like turning to jelly. The skin is in there. The fat, the meat, all the, like, cartilage bits.
It's all, like, pounded up in there. And it's such a fine chop that literally, the fat starts to liquefy and create this sauce coating every part, and every part is going to be even all the way through. I think it's almost done now. Oh! Oh, it's just dripping in pork juices. And then the next step, after they chop up all the pork, when it's ready, then it goes into a basin. They mix in this kind of dressing that includes onions, that includes liver, like a liver sauce. I think it's chicken liver, actually.
Uh, mix it all around. I think there's also some calamansi already, some pepper, some salt within the mixture. Mix that all together, and then it's ready to go. And then they take one of the iron griddles from the, the grill, and then he, like, butters the bottom of that, and then your sisig goes directly on top. It's ready to be served. Sizzling sisig, the original recipe. Cheers, Chez! Beer! What a day! And the sisig should be incoming very soon, anytime. But, yeah, I'm so excited. This is.
Anytime. It really is, sisig is one of the most iconic Filipino dishes of all time, and you'll find it across the entire country. And yet it all traces back to this spot. This is the historical ground zero. Yeah. Right. This is the birthplace of sisig in Angeles City. This is a destination moment. This is like a bucket list item on any food lover's dream list. Right, right. And you shouldn't be leaving Pampanga without tasting the original. For sure. I'm anticipating here. It is sizzling. Oh, salamat!
Thank you. It is sizzling. It's popping. But, yeah, the invention story is very unique. But we'll, we'll start eating first before we share the story of how it was invented. It's still sizzling, Mark. Yeah, and we have to squeeze this calamansi while it's sizzling. Okay. Yeah, go. Immediately squeeze on the calamansi as soon as it comes to your table. There's a chili in the center. And then while it's. Oh, the taste. Yeah? You have to dig. Scoop in. Oh, on the bottom, it's sizzling.
It's piping hot. It's starting to caramelize. Just grab a bite of this. We might burn our mouths on this first bite, but I think it's worth it. Yeah, it's hot. Oh, yeah. Very hot. We asked for sizzling, and we got sizzling. Oh, it's so fatty and gelatinous, and all the different textures of the head and the snout. It's chewy. You got the crunch of the onion in there. Plus the liver. The liver sauce. Yeah, the liver gives it this creaminess. And then the calamansi, which is needed for that acidity to contrast.
Well, that is rich and crispy. It's so fatty and juicy, and so porky. It is like. The definition of porkiness on a plate. Wow! Yeah, that has to be. Got a bit, to be partnered with beer always. A. a bubbly beverage. Let me grab another bite with a bit of the chili this time. Take another bite. Putting the chili. Oh, it's so, like, so rich and so fatty.
Sisig has a very. unique history. So, this was the base of a lot of American military. And they would eat a lot of food, a lot of pigs. Yes. But they would discard a lot of the pig heads. And so pig heads became very readily available, and also, like a. an affordable source of food for locals in the area. And so Filipinos, being extremely resourceful and using every part of the animal, they would get the pig heads, and they would start to create dishes with the pig heads. Right. But then this place, as I understand, Aling Lucing, she, as the, the legend goes, she was grilling up some pig ears, maybe some snouts and some faces as well.
And she actually, accidentally, like, burnt some, right? Yeah, yeah. She burnt some, and then just decided to create it into a, a dish like this with some vinegar, with some calamansi on a sizzling platter. And by kind of by accident, she invented the modern version of sizzling sisig that has spread all around the Philippines. Nowadays, you'll find many different variations of sisig, right? Right. But this is how the original should be. Yes. Cheers. Cheers! Okay, and on that, we're going to keep eating the original sisig, and then we're going to a few more places where we have some other versions of sisig to try.
We just tasted the original, but that only raised a bigger question. Could anyone do it better? To find out, we pulled up to a local carinderia that's as local as it gets. So, we are here. This is the owner. Yeah. Hello! Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. Thank you so much. So, the restaurant is located along the busy street in Angeles, and it's an extremely popular place. There's just a continual stream of traffic going by, motorbikes, tricycles, jeeps. And then step inside and it's this whole floor.
There's seating spread throughout. All the dishes are here, but we're going to head back to the grills to see the sisig. And so the sisig all begins with the pig face. The face, the snout, the fat, the meat, the skin. It's all here on the grill. Slowly smoldering, slow grilling over the fire, absorbing all of that smoke. And we're going to see what happens next after it's on the grill. Okay, this batch is good to go. So, it comes over to the chopping station. So, it comes directly off the grill to the chopping block. And he just completely jiggles that, slices it into tiny little pieces, dices it with a razor-sharp knife.
It's a beautiful sight to behold. And from here, then it goes into a basket and it moves over to the next station, which is the mixing spot. The ears already minced up, mixed with the face that's chopped up. Then in goes the dressing, which is onions, which is chicken liver paste. So, it's not served on a metal plate. It's ready to go as is. That's all the flavor you need. Man, the food is pretty heavy. So, we're pacing ourselves even though everything, the entire cabinet of food looks so good, and some of the classic Kapampangan dishes.
If you look around at the tables, not a single table, not a single person misses the sisig here. That's like, that's the, the dish. Right, exactly. Good observation, Mark. Yeah. All of them has at least one order of sisig. Maybe some people eat two or three or more, but we're pacing ourselves. Chez, show us what to do for this version. Whenever, whenever they serve sisig, there's a calamansi on top, so you have to squeeze it.
Immediately the squeeze, and then. And then, that's it. Just a little mix on the sisig. Okay. You can dig in. Yeah, the jelly. Okay. Let's just try it. Try it pure first. Yeah. One of the most popular versions of sisig. Yes. In Angeles. Oh, wow. I really like this version. It's so smoky and so creamy from the chicken liver sauce, and the crunch of the onion, and all the bits of the face and the ear, the cartilage, the fat, the meat. And the tangy flavor of the calamansi is there.
The calamansi is really important because sisig means something sour. That's why it's called sisig. You gotta have that. Yeah. No vinegar, just calamansi. And most of the time, they partnered it with calamansi and soy sauce. Oh! Add a bit of soy sauce. Okay, I'll do the same over here. Squeeze the calamansi. Put some soy sauce. So, next up, we'll grab some more of the sisig.
You go onto your rice. Yes. And then you go for some of that topping with the soy sauce. Yes. And the calamansi, that's the way to eat it. Yeah. That is the real deal Kapampangan way with the sisig on your rice, the crunch of the onion. That extra calamansi, the saltiness of the soy sauce and the chili.
Good combination. Takes it to the next level. Yeah. Oh, man. It's so addictive. I definitely. don't blame the people in the back of us who ordered, like, three plates to themselves. When you take your first bite, guaranteed you won't be able to stop eating it. The textures, the ears. The cartilage. Yeah. So good. And the liver just gives you this creamy sauce. And it's, but it's not overpowering. Yeah. We have one more dish, right? It's called bistek. In Tagalog, it's bistek, but in Kapampangan, it's bisteg. In Filipino, it's kalabaw.
Oh, carabao. Like, buffalo. Yeah, yeah. The carabao. Like a water buffalo. Yes, that's right. Looks like it's melting. You see chilies in here. The meat is so tender. Oh, wow. Very tender. So savory. Yeah. So salty. But a little bit of a sourness, like a vinegary sourness as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sweet and uh, I mean sour and salty.
Especially the sauce. So, it's quite, it's kind of similar to an adobo, like, with vinegar and soy sauce. Yeah. The only difference, It is, it is. most of the time between bistek and adobo is that the souring agent for adobo is vinegar, but for the bistek, it's mostly calamansi. Oh, okay, okay. So it's a different acidity. Wow, that is. awesomely tasty. Very good. Yeah. Tender carabao, just braised in its own fat and juices. Plus that acidity of the calamansi and the saltiness of the soy sauce.
Wow. I like the texture. It's really. So good, soft. Uh-huh. It is so comforting. These dishes that we've tried today represent why so many Filipinos, why locals consider Pampanga to be one of the, the capitals of food. The gourmet capital, capital of the Philippines, one of the centers of cuisine of the Philippines. Oh, man. Yes. Two types of sisig down. And I was just getting warmed up. Next stop, a Pampanga institution famous for a dish that sounds simple, fried tofu and pork, but that people have been obsessed with for over 30 years.
Next up, we're eating yet another iconic dish. So, we're at the next historical, iconic restaurant in Angeles, uh, Mila's. And, Chez, tell us about this place. Yes. Legendary place since 1987. Mila's started with tokwa't baboy, but then it also got famous with sisig. But then again, we've been eating sisig all day. Okay. So, we skip sisig. So, we have here tokwa't baboy. It's a fried tofu with pig ears. Oh, it has pig ears down there. And then it has. it has vinegar sauce, soy vinegar. And then the other one, is a barbecue version of tocino.
Tocino is like a sweet cured pork, and then it was grilled. Normally, it is a fried tocino, but this time it's a barbecue tocino. Okay. Yes, true. It's original from Pampanga. Okay, very cool. So, this would be the dish that this entire restaurant started from? Yeah, this is the name. Okay. Mila's tokwa't baboy. That's, that's the dish. This is the dish? So, yeah, so quick and easy. Yeah, let's, let's jump right into that.
You want to try? Okay, grab a spoonful with the dressing, with the ears. Then you put the tofu on top. Yes. So, you get a tokwa and baboy in one bite. Okay. One bite here. Kind of sour. A textural dream. Like, that cartilage-y texture and crunch of the ears, the fried puffy tofu, the crunch of the onions. And then it's a little bit sour from the vinegar, but salty from soy sauce. And this celery.
There's a celery in it. Yeah, it's kind of like one of those dishes, like a salad's like, like, you want to just snack on slowly. Yeah. If you're really hungry and dig in, like, it's a dish you want to savor. Take bite by bite and relax and eat. Okay, let's try the barbecue tocino. If it's a fried version, usually it's colored red, but since this is grilled, it's now almost brown.
Brown and black. Yeah. And do we make a sauce for this? Yeah, soy sauce. This is the toyo. And this is the calamansi. And then squeeze the calamansi. Yes. So, it's toyomansi. Okay. Yeah. So, you grab one of these skewers. Yep. And dip it in. Yep. Okay. Oh, yeah. It's really sweet. Sweet, yeah. Very sweet. It's tocino. Every tocino is sweet. But is it. fermented or cured? Cured, just cured. So, like, it's soaked in a. in a sweet marinade.
Yeah. Sugar, different marinade. Usually soy sauce, sugar, and a little bit of, I guess, calamansi. Not really sure about that. But sugar is uh with uh tocino. So, then when it is grilled, like, you just taste that really burnt, caramelized sugar. Yeah, it's quite sweet, but it's also quite, quite nice because it brings out the smokiness and the caramelization. And I would, like, scoot this down a little bit on the skewer, then just put it on top of the. Give it some heat. Yeah. Oh, yeah. With the chili, I think you definitely need that. that calamansi acidity to contrast the sweetness. Yeah, just to balance the sweetness, you need the. calamansi and toyo.
Definitely. This one is sour and salty. This one is sweet and smoky. Total contrast of flavor. Another absolute. legend when it comes to Kapampangan food. And we're having the special opportunity to meet Lola, Lola Mila's. Yeah. Hello. How are you? Very good. Nice to meet you. Yeah, nice to meet you too. Thank you, thank you. This is your first time to take it. Thank you. Yeah, first time. First time here. Mila's, absolutely heritage and legendary. What a spot. And that, I especially loved the pig ears with the tofu.
Oh, and it was an honor to meet Lola. A hero, just one of the legends of Kapampangan cuisine. Okay, from here, we're moving on to the next spot. And that brings us to the next stop of the day, the one I had absolutely no idea was about to become my favorite meal of the entire trip. Because the sisig here wasn't just delicious, but the way they cooked it was unlike anything I'd seen all day. Hello. Hey, nice to meet you.
I think we might have saved the best place for last. Chez, tell us about this spot. This is a roadside, uh, sisig place. So, we've been to carinderia side, and the original sisig, this one is a roadside with lechon manok and sisig. One more sizzling sisig. The anticipation for this version is so high. They're going to be grilling on the sidewalk. All the, the rotisseries are going. This is a. a Pampanga meat paradise. Okay, chicken first. Oh, right down the center. And they're ready to make a fresh batch. It's time to see the full process of the sisig.
The pork goes on. Huge chunks of the face are on the grill now. Because it's so fatty, it just releases a cloud of smoke and it pops, it hisses. Mini explosions of pork fat. I think I've come to learn that one of the greatest things about sisig is this crispy, charred bits. And now, over to the chopping station. Okay, so she's chopping up that fresh pork right off the grill. Once the fat gets chopped like that, it almost starts to liquefy. And now that goes into a basin. Oh, I love how the calamansi goes directly in.
It's made fresh. Liver, chicken liver skewers go in. Oh, he just smushes that liver until it liquefies into the sauce. Soy sauce goes in. Oh, that is next level. Oh, wow. It's coming together. There it is, a batch of sisig ready to go. Okay, it comes back out to the grill. Oh, directly onto the hot iron. So, the sisig is still on the grill. Man, they, like, continually cook it in its own fat, in its own lard for, like, 10 minutes on the grill until it gets extra crispy.
I think I have a feeling this is going to be the crispiest sisig. But before that, we're starting with the chicken, and the chicken is. it's like another signature dish here. That looks incredible. This is actually the, the name of the store. Yeah. Edwin's Lechon Manok. So we should try the lechon right now. Lechon manok. Yeah, let's go for the chicken drumstick here. Look at that skin. No condiments, yeah. No condiments, just pure. Ooh, crispy. Oh, the skin is so crispy, it almost looks like it's deep-fried 'cause the skin is so crispy.
Oh, wow. That's crispy. The skin. The skin is incredible. The meat on the inside is so creamy. Yeah. So juicy and moist. Moist and tender. And it's full of umami. They continually baste it on the grill. It's so crazy. Really. It doesn't look like it's from, uh. it's a roasted chicken. It's more like deep-fried chicken. No. So much flavor. It doesn't have anything stuffed inside. It doesn't have a leaf or greens. Only soy sauce and calamansi. That's all. And I think it's better if you dip also here.
This is their lechon sauce. Okay. I'll dip this one in the sauce. Oh, man. That wing is incredibly crispy. Yeah. The roast chicken of your dreams right there. So tasty. And here comes a sizzling sisig. Here it is. Right off the fire. Oh, it's sizzling in its own fat. Melted pork. Immediately calamansi goes on. Now you have to mix it. It looks so crispy and jiggly. And it's time to scoop. Your first bite of sisig is always a little risky.
It's so piping hot. But then at the same time, you can't resist it. So hot. Could you see the steam coming out of my mouth? That's so worth it. Oh, I'm tearing from the heat. Oh, that is insane. What I love about it, is they make everything fresh. You see the entire process, there's nothing pre-mixed. They add in the fresh calamansi, they add in the liver. They mush the liver down.
They mix it all together. Then it caramelizes and sizzles in its own fat. The onions actually start to cook. So they get, like, release the sweetness. Yeah. Yes, it's absolutely sweet because of that, yeah. Because of the onions. So, you see the different varieties of sisig in Pampanga. I think one of the. Yeah. the key factors of any sisig is you need to have different textures. You need to have crispy, you need to have fatty, cartilage.
You got to have all those, and if you're missing one of those components of texture, it's not balanced. Right. And as you know, they all have the same ingredients. They all have chicken liver. They all use white onion. When they all basically use the same ingredients, it's about the technique and the ratios that makes a difference. That's right. That can totally change the flavor. Okay, now, I wanna, I think we need to get started on our sauce mixture for the sisig. Okay. They already have a pre-mixed sauce with vinegar.
Oh, okay. But you can still add calamansi. Should we add all the chilies in here? And then you can add the chilies. Let's add all the chilies. And if you want, you can add white onions. You can use that on the toyomansi, or you can add on the sisig. Let's add. Oh, what do you think? Anything add on the sisig? You can add both if you want. It's up to you. Let's add the sisig. Okay. Let's add the onions onto the sisig. You just pour it on raw onions. So things get even better from here.
Yes. And then no need for mixing. You can scoop. Let's go. Onto the rice. Add the chilies with the soy sauce. All together in a bite with rice. Oh. Here we go. Oh, wow. Okay. Very strong taste. Yeah. That might be the bite of the day. Oh, wow. That's perfect, right? Yeah. With the white onion on top.
I think. That is a bite of Pampanga. Like, the, the greatest, well-rounded flavor. It's fatty, but not too oily. Right. Right, the crunch of the onion, the fresh onion, the chilies. Oh, wow. The flavor of the onion. The liver sauce. Oh, the calamansi. What a dish. What a spot. This is sisig. Yeah. That right there is why sisig is one of the most iconic, one of the most beloved dishes in the entire Philippines. Six restaurants, one day, three plates of sisig. And now, I finally understand why they call Pampanga, the culinary capital of the Philippines. I feel like I.
I may have gained a few kilos from the amount of pork we've eaten today, but it's been totally worth it. Yeah. Chez is the, the best person to guide you around when you're in Pampanga. He's from here. He's passionate about the food. Go check out all of his videos. Two channels, right? Yes. Thank you, thank you. Team Canlas. And Cab Chez. Yeah. And I hope this gives you some amazing ideas for the food that you have to eat when you're in Pampanga. Thanks, Chez.
Thank you, Mark. It's been a pleasure. And see you on the next video.
