Singapore Adventure: What Happened to the Bangus?

At one of my grocery shopping escapades after work, I scored a nice piece of milkfish (bangus in Filipino) at Carrefour in Plaza Singapura. And instantly, warm thoughts of home came rushing to me. My Mama is fond of preparing fish dishes - paksiw, pesa, sinigang, fried to combine with pakbet, filleted to combine with guinisang monggo, escabeche, steamed, one time we even attempted fish lumpia which turned out quite deliciously. :)

Which got me thinking... How should I help this beautiful piece of bangus fulfill its life's purpose? Hehehe...

I cut the bangus in four pieces, the two pieces from the body will go together in one dish. The fish head and tail will go together in a separate dish.

Fish Dish # 1: Paksiw na Bangus

This is what happened to the two middle pieces of my bangus. I found the recipe from the internet, but kept a real good picture and memory of the taste of my Mama's home cooking.

I put the bangus slices with some crushed garlic, peppercorn, salt, ginger, vinegar and water in the pan to simmer. Turned the fish over to make sure it cooked evenly. When the water has reduced to your desired amount, it's time to take it out of the flame.

As of press time, my paksiw na bangus is still sitting in the fridge. It will surely taste better to keep it for sometime before consuming. ^_^


Fish Dish # 2: Fried Bangus


The head and tail became fried bangus. I sprinkled some salt on the fishes and then smothered them in cornstarch. When the pan of oil got hot enough, I fried them to a crisp.

It made me finish one and a half cup of rice in one sitting. I blame the toyo-mansi dip nd the cucumber salad side dish! Perfect combination.

Well, my Cookie didn't bother with the fish. He was quite happy with his cold pizza dinner from Sunday night. So, I had the fried bangus all to myself! Bwahahaha....

I know he has angst over seafood so I'll just make it upto him and prepare him something nice - most probably in the lines of spaghetti (again) before I set out for home next week.