This Filipino Breakfast dish is called Silog, and for any food lover out there, I have a feeling it'll be your kind of breakfast. If you love sinangag (garlic fried rice), itlog (fried egg) and on this occasion longganisa (sweet filipino sausage), with some freshly chopped tomatoes and cucumbers on the side, then you're going to love this hearty recipe!
Recently, I traveled to Little Manila in London to explore the Filipino food and community there. I was welcomed with open arms and had the best time. I ate so much food but one of the dishes I failed to try was Silog - the classic filipino hearty breakfast.
So, I decided to ask some of the locals how to make it, and got their advice on what ingredients to buy, and made it at home. WOW, it's delicious. The balance of flavors is perfect from the sweet caramelised sausages to the aromatic fried rice, creamy crispy fried egg, and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.
If you're a fan of breakfast and are looking for some more inspiration, check out my Full English breakfast recipe or my Indian breakfast paratha! For a high protein option, check out my breakfast burritos!
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What is Silog?
Silog is a classic Filipino breakfast made up of sinangag (garlic fried rice), itlog (fried egg) and a meat of some kind with some freshly chopped vegetables. Aaaand depending on the meat served with the rice and egg, the name of the dish changes. See below for some examples:
- Tapsilog: it pairs tapa (pan fried cured beef) with the classic rice and egg.
- Tocilog: it pairs tocino (sweet and sticky cured pork) with rice and egg.
- Longsilog: serves longganisa (the sausage we're serving it with in this recipe) with garlic rice and egg!
The above are just the classics, but you've got dozens more varieties!
Why you'll love this recipe
Made by someone you can trust: for those of you who are new here, my name's Emily and I'm an ex-chef, turned food content creator/recipe developer. I adore testing and creating new recipes and sharing them with you. I don't use AI, I take inspiration from magazines, travel, restaurants, books, friends, and turn my thoughts into dishes that I think you'll love and want to make over and over again. So, I hope you love this dish, if so, then check out more of my recipes to make in the future!
Hearty: this isn't a random bowl of cereal, this is a good hearty breakfast that will fuel you for the day!
The rice is unreal: garlic fried rice or sinangag is SO delicious. I've had it in Filipino restaurants. The garlic is fried in butter and oil, then tossed with the rice. The flavours are unreal and go so well with the other parts of the silog breakfast.
Ingredients and substitutions
Garlic: fresh garlic cloves, finely minced.
Butter: salted butter is my preferred choice! You can use a plant-based butter if you'd like.
Oil: vegetable oil provides a neutral tasting oil, perfect for silog.
Leftover rice: pre-cooked or leftover rice is a must for the garlic fried rice.
Longganisa: this is a sweet filipino sausage. I bought mine from a filipino supermarket in London, so try and locate where your nearest filipino store is. Otherwise, you can make longganisa from scratch! Or, there are a variety of different meats you can have with silog; spam, fried beef, fish, or chicken.
Egg: we're making a fried egg, so make sure to have fresh eggs!
Cucumber: this adds freshness to our hearty dish. You can omit the cucumber and just have the tomato if you like!
Tomato: once again, this adds freshness. You could optionally add some sliced red onion and lettuce for extra freshness.
For the full ingredients list with measurements and instructions, scroll down this blog to the recipe card.
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Place a skillet or frying pan on medium heat and add in the butter. Once melted, pour in the vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes until aromatic. We don't want to burn the garlic!
Step 2: Add the pre-cooked leftover rice into the pan and combine with the garlicky buttery oil until well coated. Reduce the heat to low and stir from time to time.
Step 3: Meanwhile, place your longganisa into a skillet/pan and pour in water so that it covers the sausages halfway up the pan. Cook the sausages until the water has evaporated (rotate the sausage every few minutes). Once the water has evaporated, fry the sausages in the oil that's been left from boiling the sausages (or add in a tad more oil) until caramelised.
Step 4: Prepare the fresh salad by combining the chopped cucumber and chopped tomato with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Step 5: Place a small frying pan on medium heat and drizzle with vegetable oil. Fry your eggs and now you're ready to assemble your silog. On a plate, add the fried rice, top with an egg, and lay the sausages around the rice. Add a large spoonful of the fresh salad onto the plate, and this is your filipino-style breakfast, Silog! Enjoy!
FAQs
Silog is a Filipino mash-up word. It comes from si (for sinangag, or garlic fried rice) and log (for itlog, the Tagalog word for egg). Those two are the constant base of every silog, and the protein you add gives the dish its full name. Mine uses longganisa, so this one is longsilog.
They're all built on the same garlic rice and fried egg, and the protein is what changes. Longsilog (the one here) uses sweet longganisa sausage, tapsilog uses cured beef tapa, and tocilog uses sweet pork tocino. You'll also spot bangsilog with milkfish, hotsilog with hot dogs, and spamsilog with Spam.
Day-old rice is your friend here, which is exactly why I use leftover rice in this recipe. Cold, refrigerated grains have dried out a little overnight, so they fry up separate and slightly chewy instead of turning into a soft, clumpy mess. Fresh, hot rice tends to go mushy.
The traditional way, and what I do here, is to simmer the sausages in a little water until it evaporates. That gently cooks them through and renders some of their fat. Then you fry them right in that leftover fat until the outsides caramelize and turn sticky and golden. No extra oil needed.
Most often it comes with a little vinegar on the side, frequently spiced with garlic and chili, for dipping the meat and cutting the richness. In my version I serve it with a fresh cucumber and tomato salad, which adds a cool, bright crunch against the savory rice and sausage.
At your local Filipino supermarket! I bought mine in Earl's Court, London!
More Breakfast Recipes
If you tried this Filipino-style breakfast (Silog) or any other of my other recipes, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Filipino-Style Breakfast (Silog)
Ingredients
- 20 g salted butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 250 g cooked rice I used leftover rice or you could use pre-cooked bagged rice
- 200 g longganisa filipino sausages
- 2 eggs
- ½ cucumber diced
- 2 large tomatoes diced
Instructions
- Place a skillet or frying pan on medium heat and add in the butter. Once melted, pour in the vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes until aromatic. We don't want to burn the garlic!
- Add the pre-cooked leftover rice into the pan and combine with the garlicky buttery oil until well coated. Reduce the heat to low and stir from time to time.
- Meanwhile, place your longganisa into a skillet/pan and pour in water so that it covers the sausages halfway up the pan. Cook the sausages until the water has evaporated (rotate the sausage every few minutes). Once the water has evaporated, fry the sausages in the fat that's been left after boiling the sausages (or add in a tad more oil) until caramelised.
- Prepare the fresh salad by combining the chopped cucumber and chopped tomato with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
- Place a small frying pan on medium heat and drizzle with vegetable oil. Fry your eggs and now you're ready to assemble your silog. On a plate, add the fried rice, top with an egg, and lay the sausages around the rice. Add a large spoonful of the fresh salad onto the plate, and this is your filipino-style breakfast, Silog! Enjoy!
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