Good Friday fish tales

MILLIE: My Dad has been quite unhappy about not finding a local restaurant that can serve a simple fillet of fish meuniere. Even the chefs of some of the best restaurants in town have been rather unsuccessful in pleasing him. Is it because his standards are too high or he has yet to find a Julia Child to prepare it for him? What puzzles him most is the high price of fish dishes in restaurants in a country with vast sea waters.

Although I like fish, I was never really a fish eater until I was diagnosed with hypothyrodism about two years ago. Upon my doctor’s advise, I switched to a fish diet and that was quite difficult to follow at first, but eventually, I got the hang of it. The plus factor was, I started to lose weight without really trying and that sort of inspired me.

An all-fish diet is very healthy, because it contains healthy unsaturated fats that helps keep cholesterol levels down. It reportedly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, reduces triglycerides, thins the blood and inhibits blood clots. It is a good source of protein, potassium, vitamins, and minerals.

There are even precise dietary laws written in the Bible: “These are the things that breed in the water and which it is lawful to eat. All that hath fins and scales, as well as in the sea, as in the rivers, and the pools, you shall eat.” (Leviticus 11:9)

KARLA: Ever since I was a young kid, I was crazy about smoked salmon. Mom says I was only three years old when I developed a taste for it. Whenever we would be at buffets, I would pounce at the smoked salmon right away knowing that it was the expensive stuff and thus, sulit. All the more since I was still charged half price then. As I grew older, I learned to appreciate fried galunggong, which my Lola Meldy would eat with her favorite mongo. Then there was the blue marlin craze. In my teen years, before it became so popular, the Chilean sea bass was a great favorite until I learned that it was an endangered specie, and totally stopped eating it. Here’s something we have to understand. We must respect the ecological balance whether a resource is becoming endangered or not and give back to nature. An example of this is the recently imposed tuna ban by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which the Philippines is a member of. The ban started implementation last January 1, due to the over fishing of yellow fin tuna and the dwindling resources of such.

I like to cook my fish seared or pan fried with lemon, anchovy, or herb butter. It is also great charcoal grilled with a teriyaki sauce or tomato basil salsa. In Spain, I learned to prepare it with salsa verde, which my Lolo Joe adores. My Tita Dorcie makes a fabulous pasta with tuyo flakes, garlic, and olive oil.

Unlike other countries, the laws here in the Philippines to protect buyers aren’t strictly imposed as those abroad. With that, the responsibility of choosing the freshest and the best ingredients is solely dependent on the buyers. With this, I’d like to share some tips when buying fish.

Check for its freshness by using your senses. One can easily detect if it is not fresh if the eye is reddish. The eyes should be full, shiny and flush with the head. Gills should be moist and bright red. The skin should be glistening, pearly and tight. Your sense of touch will tell if the fish is not firm, so don’t buy it. It should not retain a finger impression and should not be easily separated from the bones. The scales should cling to the skin, and should be shiny and intact. Use your sense of smell. If it is smelly, then obviously it’s not fresh. However, a muddy smell may be infused in various fish, depending where they live, but it does not necessarily mean that the fish is not fresh. And while you are at it, check to see if there are no foreign objects stuffed into the fish to make it weigh heavier.

Mom taught me that the best way to remove the fishy taste is to cook it with ginger. This trick she learned from my Lolo Joe’s friend Mina Yu Khe Tai .

In biblical times, people ate their fish fresh as there was no way of preserving fish except by salting. On a culinary educational trip to Spain back in 2003, I learned how the history of a Spanish fish dish called bacalao came about. Bacalao simply means cod. Back in the olden days, the fishermen while at sea, kept the fish in salt as a means of preserving it since there was no ice readily available in those times. They would keep it in salt until they had gone back to shore and, of course, by that time the fish was heavily salted. In later years, people learned to process them by smoking and so we have products like my smoked salmon and tinapa. Mom says my Lolo Joe should take credit for developing and promoting The Plaza’s Smoked Tanguingue and Smoked Mahi-mahi.

MILLIE: Allow us to share with you some of our favorite fish dishes, which are simply prepared and you can easily do at home for your Good Friday meals. We like butterfly- cut bangus, cooked in a little soy topped with sautéed onion rings. Another is pesang isda, a bit soupy with a light fish broth and served with a tomato pesto. One of my Lola Asiang’s hand-me-down recipes was Bangus en Tocho, which was prepared with black beans and tofu. One can’t go wrong with sinigang with milkfish bellies or even salmon bellies. Yummy! I love talakitok and pampano! It’s great simply fried or grilled, served with minced boiled eggplant, chopped tomatoes and onions with green mango shreds. Sometimes, I season with salt and pepper and top it with sautéed garlic, onions and tomatoes and simply wrap in banana leaves and set to steam or cook on charcoal grill. Then there’s the all-time favorite inihaw na panga ng tuna served with a dipping sauce of soy, vinegar, chopped onions and chilis!

Karla and I also love blue marlin bellies and tanguingue steak cooked with lots of garlic or served with lemon-butter sauce. A family favorite is tinapang bangus, which we love to feast on with garlic rice and salted egg and fresh tomatoes.

You won’t believe this but my Dad once went on a fish paksiw binge, which lasted for over three months! He had lost his appetite, was losing weight without even trying and his doctor could not diagnose what was wrong. Even the sight of his favorite dishes did not do wonders. He’d take a bite or two and then stop whatever he was eating. What got him back in business was paksiw na banak or hasa hasa simply cooked in vinegar and whole peppercorns with lots of home-grown chilis from our garden, and ampalaya. This he ate with a cup of steamed white rice and a lot of gusto! The sourness of the vinegar roused his taste buds and tickled his appetite. Occasionally, I’d join him with jumbo bangus prepared the same way.

Karla ’S Fillet of Fish Meuniere

Ingredients:

Fish fillet (best to use lapu-lapu, mahi-mahi or dory)

Salt and pepper

Calamansi

All-purpose flour

Fresh egg

Button mushroom

Butter

Lemon wedge

Chopped parsley

Procedure:

Marinate the fish fillet in calamansi, salt and pepper for a few minutes. Beat the egg and set aside. Slice the mushrooms. Dip the marinated fish fillet in beaten egg and sprinkle with all-purpose flour. Melt the butter and fry in the fish fillet. When golden brown, add in the sliced mushrooms.

Serve with lemon wedge and garnish with chopped parsley.

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us onfFacebook: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.