Written by: seigfredtristan on August 31, 2010

We’ve read here that the Spanish influence in our cuisine has a lot of traces from Mexican Cuisine. And Señor Sisig hit the right spot by fusing Sisig with Mexican food. So I quickly grabbed Evan and Gil by the jugulars, and water-boarded them until they squealed. Before you read on though, please watch this dreamy video to get acquainted with one of the famous Food Trucks in San Francisco.

Here’s myfilipinokitchen’s interview with Evan and Gil of the famous Filipino Food Truck, Señor Sisig:

Why the dish Sisig and why the name Señor Sisig?

During our start up phase, we (Evan and Gil) talked about different possibilities of tacos and the meats we wanted to use. We were going to do all types of Asian tacos and then decided that it would be better to have a focus. We then decided that Filipino Fusion was going to be our direction and Gil immediately said that we should use Sisig in our tacos. We started experimenting with the sisig tacos and concluded that Sisig was going to be the emphasis of our business. As far as our name goes, I (Evan) was brainstorming for a month about different names that would represent what we are doing, which was Filipino Fusion food, predominantly fused with Mexican Food. I had a list of over 50 names that I came up with and a lot were good but none really grabbed me. So on my birthday of last year, my girlfriend asked me what I wanted for a present, and I jokingly told her that I wanted a taco truck because I was looking for one to buy at the time. On my birthday, my girlfriend gave me a small box and inside was a paper model of a taco truck, which she had named “Señor Sisig”. As soon as I read the words “Señor Sisig” I knew that we had the name for our business. Thanks baby!

What will they miss out if they don’t try Sisig?

Interesting question. I’d say if you haven’t tried sisig, then your missing a punch of goodness! Sisig will blow your mind the first time you have it! Everyone has their own version of Sisig, which is great because you will always have a new experience. We want to make Sisig as popular as adobo and lumpia so that the world can taste what it’s been missing.

If I have $10 dollars to spend for myself on Senor Sisig, what should I buy?

I would say 1 sisig meat taco (pork,beef,chicken) , 1 sisig tofu taco, and you have to try the sisig fries. We have not started serving our burritos yet but when they do hit the menu you might need to borrow another $5 because they are WOW!

In California, how popular among non-Filipinos is Filipino food

I grew up and live in the Bay Area so I can only speak for this area but I would say that it is not that popular. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Korean food are very popular in the Bay Area as well as LA, but Filipino food is in my opinion overlooked.

And by that, what can you say about Filipino food being an under-rated cuisine?

I ask myself this question all the time. I wouldn’t say that its under-rated because you have to try it to under-rate it. I would say that it is overlooked or simply not visible enough. Outside of Daly City and San Francisco, I could only name a handful of Filipino restaurants in the Bay Area, which is a problem of being overlooked in it self. The problem with the few restaurants that are open is that they mostly cater to only the Filipino community, because Filipinos will come and eat regardless. What I mean is that the restaurants have great food but don’t really do anything to make the experience pleasant through decor and service, which does not attract other nationalities to try Filipino cuisine. We want to break this barrier of not being visible and to make it a fun experience, which is why we started Senor Sisig! This question is a whole interview in itself, which I would love to discuss further.

But what drove you to sell Filipino food?

The Bay Area is heavily populated with Filipinos. Growing up here I know that it’s not as easy to get Filipino food as it is in other Asian cuisines mentioned earlier. That’s why we thought that there was a niche for a Filipino food business of some sort. We want to make Filipino food, one, more accessible for people and two, we want to make it something fun and new so that we can draw interest from all types of foodies, not just Filipinos. One of our goals is a business that eventually brings Filipino food to the mainstream so that it can be mentioned with all other types of cuisines when people ask the question “what should I eat today?

Where do you see Senor Sisig in 5 years’ time?

We are taking it one day at a time, but I want to see Senor Sisig outlets throughout the Bay Area and So Cal, not only trucks but storefronts as well. I would like to explore the possibility of one day opening in the Philippines. Oddly enough New York has been making noise for a Señor Sisig so maybe one day you will see us in Time Square!

Who can go for a joyride on the Senor Sisig truck and for how long?

Ziggy, you are welcome to go for a joy ride for as long as you want. Just don’t try to ship it back to Australia! We are really friendly people and if it would make someone’s day to go for a ride in the truck, we will jump at the opportunity to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Any unforgettable experience so far in the truck?

Too many to mention. Most of them bad! These trucks require a lot of maintenance and crazy problems pop up all the time. But my happiest experience so far would be the first day we opened our doors at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco in June. We had a line of about 30 people and during the chaos of our first day, I had to step back for a second because I realized that all the hard work that we had put in to starting this business has become a reality and that people really were enjoying our product. It’s sort of embarrassing but I said to myself “They like it…They really Like it!” It was a great feeling and then it was right back to work!

Anything else you want to say?

I want to thank everybody who made the first month of operation a successful and an unforgettable one. We are blessed to be a part of the Street food movement in California and together we can bring Filipino cuisine to the forefront, where it belongs.

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Please visit the Senor Sisig Website

Follow them on Twitter at @senorsisig

And don’t forget to vote for them on the Great Food Truck Race.