Dried Fish made yummy

CEBU, Philippines — Fish during the monsoon season is scarce and thus quite expensive. Fishermen usually find it too risky to go out to sea in inclement weather, because of the strong winds and big waves. They would wait for the weather to calm down a bit – which is rarely – and, in the meantime, there is a general shortage of fish in the markets. 

And so people usually opt for meats; after all, meats are good body warmers. But those who just aren’t comfortable on the heavy fill of meat may just grit their teeth over the high price of fish. Or they would have to think of ways.

There’s actually a way to have fish – inexpensively – in the rainy season. It’s still possible to have fish even when the fishermen don’t go out to the sea. The fish surplus during the sunny season are still very much around, albeit not fresh anymore – dried fish, or “buwad” in Cebuano. There’s plenty of it at the Taboan Market in Cebu City.

“Buwad” is generally considered the poor man’s fish, although that is not necessarily true. It is also found served at the dining table of the rich. The only difference perhaps is that affluent people demand some creativity in their “buwad” recipe, wide ordinary people would just quickly settle for the usual either broiled or fried “buwad.”

There’s a delicious “buwad” recipe that really perks up the appetite – “Sarciadong Buwad.” This is one of the better ways of cooking dried fish in many parts of Central Visayas, in Cebu especially. One needs to be warned, though – the aroma is sure to travel around the neighborhood.