This recipe for Rellenong Bangus comes courtesy of Jovanni Sy of Cahoots Theatre Projects in Toronto. Sy recently gave a preview of his play, A Taste of Empire, which uses the concept of a modern-day TV cooking show to impart the colonial history of the Phillippines while also educating the audience about globalization. Now that's a sizzler of a play!
Sy hopes to have an official staging in 2009. Meanwhile, here's a delicious recipe for you to try.
Ingredients:
1 whole bangus (milkfish) 1-1/2 to 2 pounds
Fish skin marinade:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- sea salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- banana leaf for steaming
Saute:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- ½ medium red onion, chopped fine
- ½ cup tomatoes, diced
- ½ cup potatoes (blanched), diced fine
- ½ cup carrots (blanched), diced fine
- ½ cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- ¼ cup raisins
- sea salt to taste
- ground pepper to taste
Tamarind mixture:
- 1 Tbsp tamarind paste
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 3 drops Worcestershire sauce
Other ingredients:
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- flour for coating
- canola oil for frying
METHOD:
1. Pound fish body to soften. Remove backbone. Scrape fish flesh with a spoon into stainles steel work bowl lined with banana leaf.
2. Place soy sauce in marinating dish. Cut lemon in half and juice lemon into marinating dish. A sea salt and pepper to marinade. With tongs, lift fish skin into dish. Set aside.
3. Wrap fish flesh in banana leaf, place in bamboo steamer and steam for five to six minutes over wok filled with simmering water.
4. Chop garlic, onion, tomato and place in clear ramekins. Put ramekins on saute station tray.
5. With oven mitt, remove bamboo steamer from heat and place on counter. Carefully lift banana leaf pouch with spatula and place on cutting board.
6. Carefully unwrap steamed fish. Swap this hot fish for pre-cooked and boned milkfish.
7. Saute garlic in hot oil until almost brown. Add onion. Add potatoes and carrots. Stir-fry over medium heat until vegetables are tender. Add peas, raisins and cooked fish meat. Add tamarind mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and place in ice bath. Let cool.
8. When cool, add bread crumbs. Then add beaten egg, mixing well. Stuff in fish skin.
9. Sew skin. Dredge fish in flour and fry.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.
If you love food from the Philippines, consider these other dishes: Other Filipino recipes include: Chow Mein Filipino Style, Filipino Christmas Rice Cakes and Cassava Cake.
