I have observed that westerners eat fish either broiled or fried. Seldom do I see them eat fish in different dimension. Filipinos cook fish in a variety of ways. Broiled/Grilled and fried are still popular because these cooking method are cheap and do not require many ingredients.
Paksiw na Isda
One way of cooking fish is by boiling it with water, vinegar, salt and pepper. This method of cooking is called paksiw. In generally, it is but cooking something with water and vinegar. The fish to be cooked are usually those who have thick scales like milkfish, tilapia, bisugo, mullet, sardines, etc. and some with little or no scales such as galunggong, mackerel, biya, etc. According to elders, paksiw is best cooked in an earthen pot or palayok.
Palayok (earthen pot)
(Image from http://tagaloglang.com/palayok/)
Bangus (milkfish) at Tilapia - best for paksiw
Simple "Paksiw"
Ingredients:
1 kilo fish (isda)
1 1/2 cup water (tubig)
1/2 cup vinegar (suka)
salt (asin) to taste
pepper (paminta) to taste
Procedure:
1. Clean the fish. You can either remove the scales or not.
2. Put the fish in a thick pot or earthenware/palayok.
3. Put the water, vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Cover the pot tightly.
5. Cook continuously in a medium heat for about 10 minutes.
6. Uncover, taste and adjust salt and pepper.
7. Cook further in a low heat in about 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced in half. The sauce should be cloudy white.
8. Serve with fish sauce (patis), soy sauce (toyo),or fermented anchovies (bangoong) with calamansi or green pepper.
9. Perfect with steaming rice.
The photo above is what I cooked last night. You can observed that there are also garlic and ginger on that dish. The recipe mentioned above is the simplest paksiw. There are many ingredients that can be incorporated with fish paksiw depending on what are available in a household.
Other Ingredients for Paksiw
Ginger (Luya) and garlic (bawang) are also used in making fish paksiw. A thumbnail of ginger is cleaned, smashed or cut into pieces with a knife. Ginger removes the fishy smell of the dish and adds flavor. Garlic is also smashed and together with the ginger, are added in the pot with the vinegar and water.
Bawang, luya at sibuyas (Garlic, ginger, and onion)
(Image from https://blog.kachiskitchen.com/tag/ginger)
Sliced onions can also be added to the paksiw. In some areas of the Philippines, vegetables such as eggplant and bitter gourd or ampalaya are also used. After cleaning, the eggplant are cut into 4 portions. After removing the insides and cleaned, the ampalaya are sliced into 4 pieces as the eggplant. These vegetables add volume and texture to the fish paksiw.
Bitter gourd & Eggplant (Ampalaya at talong)
To give a kick, green banana pepper or any other long pepper (siling haba) is usually added to the fish paksiw. The cooked banana pepper is usually mashed with the fish sauce, toyo or calamansi as a dip or eaten in itself. Others prefer the smallest & hottest pepper or siling-labuyo.
Banana pepper (Sili)
Siling-labuyo
(Image from http://tagaloglang.com/sili/)
Paksiw ng Bangus
Most Filipinos are eager to eat paksiw na ayungin (silver therapon). But because of the price and low supply, this fish paksiw is becoming just a dream.
Paksiw na Ayungin
(Image from http://www.gastronomybyjoy.com/2015/08/)
Chicken and other meats are also best for paksiw. We shall feature these dishes in the future.
To readers, please post your best paksiw recipe!
