Ysabelle's Fiery Raw Anchovies Salad Recipe

Culinary Travels in the Philippines Filipino Festive Fish Cuisine

Mar 17, 2009 Greca Durant

The Philippines boast some of the freshest seafood which locals concoct into delicacies like bird's eye chilli-powered raw fish salads using anchovies, tuna, or mackerel.

A visitor to the Philippine Islands will be astonished to find how varied Filipino cuisine is. As one hops from island to island, the culinary traveler gets to sample food and flavors, both alien and familiar, bearing Spanish, Chinese, Malay, Arabian, Japanese, American, Italian, French, Korean, Indian or Thai influences. "Though underrated and unknown in some parts of the world, Philippine cookery stands out as one of the most satisfying and comforting foods...," says Glenda Rosales-Barretto, popular Filipino restaurateur and author of Flavors of the Philippines, A Culinary Guide to the Best of the Islands (Anvil 2007).

Filipino Festive Dishes from Manila in the North to Zamboanga in the South

Located in southeastern Asia and surrounded by the fish-rich waters of the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, Celebes Sea, and Sulu Sea, the country dishes out some of the most pleasant and also most fiery fish preparations.

Manila is popular for its lapulapu en mayonesa (steamed garoupa with egg-mayo coating) and gambas (shrimps in chilli garlic sauce). A few hours' drive from Manila is Pampanga, famous for its gastronomic fiestas (feasts), with specialties like adobong sugpo sa taba ng talangka (prawns in crab fat sauce) and inihaw na dalag at buro (mudfish with fermented rice).

In Northern Luzon, the food enthusiast will be awed by the unusual pairing of rellenong bangus (milkfish stuffed with eggs, cheese and raisins) and ensaladang bagnet (pork crackling, tomato and seaweed salad). Flying to Palawan to visit its pristine beaches, one gets to savor its talakitok at maya-maya sinigang sa mangga (cavalla and red snapper in green mango broth) or its pusit pulutan (broiled dried squid with chillies).

On reaching the Bicol Province, dishes get red-hot, like kinunot na pagi (flaked stingray in hot spices). However, the strength of the chillies is tempered by the addition of coconut milk to the dish. Cebu offers no-fuss cooking, with seafood "marinated in vinegar, broiled or boiled." Here, food connoisseurs may get their first taste of kinilaw (raw fish salad), top Filipino comfort food. Recipes vary, from Visayas to Cagayan de Oro and Surigao in Mindanao.

Davao boasts of panga (broiled tuna jaws) and ukoy (shrimp and sweet potato fritters), while Zamboanga, one of the last Spanish strongholds in the Philippines, is famed for its sweet-tasting indigenous crabs called curacha, the main ingredient for guinataang curacha (crabs in roasted coconut sauce).

Ysabelle's Kinilaw na Bulinaw (Fiery Raw Anchovies Salad)

Good for 2 persons

Ingredients:

• 200 gms fresh anchovies (sprats) (One may also use fresh tuna, mackerel, kingfish, swordfish, salmon, and other firm-fleshed fish.)
• juice of two limes or 1 large lemon
• 1/2 cup vinegar (Use coconut or toddy vinegar, if available.)
• red and green bird's eye chillies, sliced crosswise*
• An inch of fresh ginger, washed, leave unpeeled
• 1 or 2 medium-sized red onions, peeled and diced
• sea salt or iodized salt to taste
• a plate of cold leftover rice
• Utensils needed: two deep bowls, sharp knife

*(The amount of fresh chillies to be used depends on how red-hot one wants the salad to get. Ten chillies will do. If bird's eye is not available, add some other variety of chilli or a tablespoon of dried chilli flakes will do the trick. Don't forget to put on food handler's gloves when slicing the fresh chillies. Removing seeds from chillies will lessen heat.)

Procedure:

1. Fresh anchovies don't have that "fishy" odor. They should smell like seawater, with shimmering firm bodies and bright eyes. Do the same "freshness check" with any fish.
2. Remove heads, guts, and bones. Wash under running water, to remove grits. Put anchovies in a bowl. Rinse quickly with half of the vinegar. Drain.
3. Put fish in a bowl. Add the sliced chillies or dried chilli flakes and the diced onions to the fish.
4. Smash the ginger with the handle of a knife and dice. Add to anchovies.
5. Add the juice and a tablespoon of vinegar. Sprinkle mixture with sea salt or iodized salt to taste. Stir.
6. Serve immediately with the leftover rice, the best accompaniment to the kinilaw. Steaming rice will exacerbate the heat of the chillies; one gets that sensation of "eating fire." Fizzy drinks go well with this dish.

The copyright of the article Ysabelle's Fiery Raw Anchovies Salad Recipe in Culinary Travel is owned by Greca Durant. Permission to republish Ysabelle's Fiery Raw Anchovies Salad Recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Ysabelle's Fiery Raw Anchovies Salad, Philippines

What do you think about this article?

---

NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.

post your comment

What is 3+5?