Guinataang Puso na Saging

Guinataang Puso ng Saging, Banana Blossom in Coconut Milk is another unique Pinoy food that uses the banana blossom (flower bud) or puso ng saging to Pinoy parlance. Choosing the best banana blossoms is a problem for those who are not familiar of the type of banana blossoms. As a rule choose blossoms that have a round tip end or those that are long with smaller diameter. Other types have bitter tastes which require squishing out the juices by soaking the sliced banana blossoms in water and salt solution. Generally banana blossoms sold at most vegetable market are the non bitter type and on most Metro Manila wet markets they are sold already sliced. Here is the recipe.



Ingredients:

6 cup thinly sliced puso ng saging, banana blossom
4 cup malungay, moringa leaves
2 cup fresh alamang, krill
2 cup coconut milk, kakang gata
2 cup coconut milk, second extract
1 thumb size ginger, cut into strips
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
3 tbsp. vinegar
1/4 cup patis, fish sauce
3-4 pieces green chili
2-3 siling labuyo, chopped
coarsely ground pepper
salt
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



In a large casserole sauté garlic, ginger and union, add in sliced banana blossoms, siling labuyo, ground pepper, fish sauce, vinegar and pour in the coconut milk second extract and 1 cup kakang gata, bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated at low to medium heat stirring occasionally. Add in the krill, green chili, moringa and remaining kakang gata. Cook for another 3-5 minutes, season with salt to taste if required. Serve with a lot of rice.


See other related guinataang vegetables recipe;
Bicol Express, Gulay na Lada
Guinataang Langka
Guinataang Lechon Kawali at Baguio Beans
Laing

Chicken with Ampalaya Tendrils and Sotanghon

Chicken with Ampalaya Tendrils and Sotanghon is an Ilocano version of chicken tinola. This dish is best with native chicken hen preferably those that have started laying eggs. For this reason the dish is something special that is served at Ilocano households to important or especial guest. Bitter guard in a chicken ginger soup might not sound right to most Pinoys especially those who shy away from ampalaya, but I assure you it is a delicious dish. Of course any chicken can be used should a free range native chicken is not available. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken
1/2 kilo sotanghon, vermicelli noodles, soaked in water
2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips
2 bundle ampalaya tendrils, remove from stem
1 bundle chilli tendrils, remove from stem
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
3 pcs. siling haba, green chili
1/2 cup patis, fish sauce
salt and pepper
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



Cut chicken into serving pieces with the bones intact. Wash thoroughly and drain, set aside. In a casserole sauté garlic, onion and ginger. Add chicken and fish sauce, stir cook for 2-3 minutes or until meat changes to golden brown. Add 8-12 cups of water and bring to boil, simmer for 10-15 minutes or until chicken are tender. Then add vermicelli noodles and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until noodles are just cooked. Season with salt and pepper if required. Add in ampalaya tendrils and green chili and cook for another minute, now add the chili tendrils. Serve hot.



See other related chicken soup recipe;
Chicken Binakol
Chicken Sopas
Chicken Halang Halang
Sinampalokang Manok
Tinolang Manok sa Papaya

Steamed Tilapia

Steamed Tilapia. I was surprised the first time I learned that steamed fish from Chinese restaurants are first pouched before steaming with the required ingredients. And at some instances they never actually steam the fish. I later learned that this is done for the following reason. First is to rid off or reduce the unpleasant fishiness and to significantly reduce the cooking time of the fish especially with large fish. My steamed tilapia uses the same poached/steam method, of course there are several method by the Chinese in steaming a fish including pouring hot oil over the steamed fish but that is reserved for future post. Here is a simple method of steaming a fish.



Ingredients:

2 medium size tilapia
2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips
1 small bundle spring onion, cut into 2” length
1 small bundle kinchay, Chinese parsley copped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 tsp. sesame oil
salt

Cooking procedure:



Remove gills, scales and innards of fish. Trim fins, rinse and drain well. Slit/cut across diagonally at both side of each fish. Dust a thin coating of salt and rub evenly over the fish, including cavity. Poached the fish in a wok of boiling water for 3-5 minutes. When done carefully slide the fish in a colander to drain excess water. In a steaming bowl arrange half of the ginger, spring onion and Chinese parsley at the bottom. Now carefully slide over and arrange side by side the poached fish, add the remaining ginger, spring onion and Chinese parsley over the fish. Mix the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and toasted sesame seed if using and pour over the fish. Bring water in the steamer to a boil. Now place the steaming bowl with the fish in the steamer and steam over medium to high heat for 8-10 minutes. Remove from steamer and serve while still hot with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and kalamansi.


See other tilapia recipe;
Fish & Tofu with Tausi
Fish Sisig, Tilapia Sisig
Guinataang Tilapia at Pechay
Pritong Tilapia
Sinanglay na Tilapia

Bangus Belly Bistek Tagalog

Bangus Belly Bistek Tagalog. The best part of a milkfish is the belly, I am speaking on my personal preference but I am sure most of Pinoys will agree with me. Bangus belly are available in the most supermarkets and they are even sold boneless therefore availability is not a problem. I preferred it fresh so I have to use the belly from a large milkfish I bought from the fish market. I just used the fatty belly and keep aside the remaining part for other dish. To cook a milkfish belly in a bistek Tagalog style the fish has to be fried first. To avoid damaging the belly fats, the fish have to be fried with the skin positioned at the bottom and then carefully flip over and just quickly fry the fatty side. Warning when frying milkfish, expect a lot of splashing. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo bangus, milkfish belly
2 medium size onion, sliced into rings
1/2 head garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup kalamasi juice
pepper
cooking oil



Cooking procedure:

Marinate milkfish belly in a mixture of; half of the soy sauce, half of the kalamansi juice, garlic and pepper for 15 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Separate the fish from the marinade reserving the marinade on a separate bowl and set aside. In a wok heat generous amount of oil and fry the milkfish belly in medium heat, skin side at the bottom for 2-3 minutes. Expect a lot of oil splashing, cover wok with lid. Now flip the milkfish belly and fry for another minute, when done carefully remove the fish and drain excess oil in paper towel, keep aside. Using the same wok discard excess oil and stir fry onions until translucent remove from wok and set aside. Pour 1 cup of water, the remaining marinade the remaining soy sauce and kalamansi juice into the wok, bring to a boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is reduced to half. Return the fried milkfish belly, add in the onions and simmer for a minute. Serve with a lot of rice.


See other bangus/milkfish recipe:
Afritadang Bangus
Paksiw na Bangus
Daing na Bangus
Rellenong Bangus
Inihaw na Bangus
Sinigang na Bangus sa Bayabas
Sinigang na Bangus sa Santol

Vigan Ukoy

Vigan Ukoy is also sold along side the Popular Vigan empanada at the Vigan Empanadaan under the bell tower of St. Paul Cathedral. This ukoy may be less popular but it is equally as good as the Vigan empanada. Vigan ukoy is crispy shrimp fritter made up of small shrimps and glutinous rice batter and served in Ilocos cane vinegar with garlic, onion and hot chili. The ukoy is fried in a wok of hot cooking oil, to achieve that extra crispiness, the ukoy batter is slowly poured on the hot cooking oil in a circular manner. This method will result a crispy thin airy fritter compared to the solid patties of a regular ukoy. Here is the recipe.



Ingredients:

3 cup small shrimps
1 small bundle spring onion, chopped
2 cup glutinous rice flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 piece medium size egg, beaten
salt and pepper
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



In a bowl mix glutinous rice flour add dash of salt and pepper to taste. Blend in the beaten egg and 1 1/2 cup of water until a smooth batter is produced. Add in shrimp and spring onion, mix thoroughly. Heat about 2-3 cups of oil in a wok. Using a soup ladle scoop about 1/3 cup of the shrimp batter mixture and pour in circular motion into the heated oil. Fry one scoop at a time flip once the bottom turns to golden brown. Fry until crispy and golden brown. Remove from wok and drain on a paper towel. Serve with Ilocos vinegar, crushed garlic and onion dipping sauce.



See other related ukoy recipe.
Ukoy na Dilis
Ukoy, Shrimp Fritter



See other related empanada post;
Vigan Empanada Recipe
Vigan Empanada and Ukoy
Vigan Empanada
Batac Empanada

Vigan Empanada

Vigan Empanada. I finally tried to make myself a Vigan empanada. I have to make that last visit to Mac’s Deli empanada stall at Mall of Asia to see how they actually cook it and to try to dissect what is actually inside the filling. I have seen the empanada makers at Vigan on how they make them but I did not have a change to confirm what is in the empanada filling. Some version of the Vigan empanada uses other vegetables in addition to the basic grated papaya filling. Mac’s Deli empanada uses just grated papaya, longganisa filling and a piece of egg, half of the egg whites discarded.



Making the crust was a challenge it is not easy at all, if it is to thin it can not hold the filling and it will break, if it’s too thick it is like the crust of a pie. Rolling and folding the crust and eventually deep frying need a lot of practice. Here’s how I made it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. atsute in oil (optional)
1 small size unripe papaya, grated, blanched
4 pcs. Vigan longganisa, remove from casing
6 small size egg
salt
cooking oil



Cooking procedure:

Put the grated papaya in a big bowl sprinkle with salt (just enough to taste), mix in the salt by hand in squeezing action. Now squeezed out and discard the juices of the grated papaya, keep aside. In a big bowl mix the glutinous rice flour water and astute to form into dough with light yellowish tint. Chip off about the size of a golf ball and roll using the palm to form into balls. Dip the dough ball in oil, flatten and place in between two sheet of thick cellophane coated with cooking oil, using a rolling pin roll the dough form into a thin flat crust. At the middle of the crust put 3-4 tbsp. of grated papaya, make a crater at the center, break an egg and pour in the crater, add in 2-3 tbsp. of longgnisa filling. Seal the crust by folding to form a soft shell, shaped like a crescent, trim of excess crust using the edge of a small plate. In a large wok deep fry for 2-3 minutes until the crust turns into a crispy shell. Remove from wok and drain excess oil. Serve immediately with Ilocos vinegar with garlic, onions and hot chilli.


See other related empanada post;
Vigan Empanada and Ukoy
Vigan Empanada
Batac Empanada

Spaghetti with Halaan

Spaghetti with Clams. Spaghetti to most Pinoys is made up of usually overcooked spaghetti in sourly sweet tomato sauce and sometimes with banana ketchup ground pork and/or beef, hotdog and other finely chopped vegetables. With all those required ingredients Pinoy spaghetti don’t come cheap, for this reason most of the time home cooked spaghetti are only served at special occasions. There are other simpler and cheaper ways to cook and enjoy spaghetti that can be prepared at home, one such is spaghetti with sardines. Click here to see that post. Today I would like to share another way of cooking spaghetti. Spaghetti with halaan uses clams that are in abundance at wet markets and just garlic and kinchay (Chinese parsley) as aromatics ingredients. Olive oil might not sound normal to Pinoy cooking, if not available use a good vegetable oil. Using wine is an option for this recipe but if it’s available it is good to use some. Fresh clams are best for this recipe but the clams should be thoroughly clean especially if they were harvested on coastal waters near Metro Manila. To achieve this let the clams sit in water for several hours, whole day if necessary and have them spit out all the sea water, sand and all the dirt they have ingested. The water is change frequently until all the sand and dirt have been expelled by the clams.



Ingredients:

1 kilo small size halaan, clams
1/2 kilo spaghetti, half cooked
2 bundle kinchay, chopped
1 head large size garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
salt and pepper

Cooking procedure:



Wash clams and place a container with lid, cover with water and replace lid, let sit in for several hours (entire day) to allow the clams to expel sand and discard sea water, change water frequently and wash and drain. In a large pan put the clams, add in 2 cups of water let boil and stirring occasionally until all the clam shells just open, remove from heat. Separate the clams from the broth, using a sieve strain broth of scum and sand if any, discard clams that did not open and keep aside. I same pan heat the olive oil, add in the garlic and quickly stir cook. Now add in the clams, white wine (if using) and kinchay, stir cook for a minute. Remove clams from the pot and keep aside. Add the half cooked pasta and clam broth, cook for another 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally until al dente and but not too dry, add more water from boiling the pasta as necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and mix in clams. Serve immediately.


See other related spaghetti recipes;
Spaghetti with Fried Sardines in Hot and Spicy Sauce
Pinoy Spaghetti
Pinoy Spaghetti Longganisa
Spaghetti Marinara
Tuna Carbonara


See other related halaan recipes;
Guinataang Halaan
Tinolang Halaan

Batchoy Tagalog

Batchoy Tagalog is not similar to the La Paz batchoy of Iloilo. The Tagalog version is more similar to tinola in cooking method. Batchoy Tagalog is a soup dish made up pork loin and pork innards like kidney, spleen, liver and heart sautéed in ginger, garlic and onion. Pork blood is also added to the dish. Misua noodle is used instead of miki noodle. The pork blood is added in liquefied form which result a murky black soup dish that is un appealing to those who are not familiar with this delicious dish.

Here is my version of a more subdued batchoy Tagalog, in terms of visual appearance. Pork innards will also contribute on the murky color of the dish especially the spleen and liver, so I omitted the pork innards. Beside they are probably not readily available at some part of the globe. Pork blood is an essential ingredient, I have to use coagulated pork blood and pre-boiled to a firm solid, rinse and cut into cubes. Now you have good batchoy Tagalog that is visually appealing as well. However should pork blood is not available or you do not like at all then it could be omitted all together and still have an acceptable batchoy Tagalog.

Ingredients:



1 kilo lomo, pork loin, sliced
1/2 k. pork innards, kidney, spleen, liver (optional)
1 bowl coagulated pork blood, boiled, cut into cubes
1 small packet misua noodles
2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips
2 large size sayote, sliced
1/2 head garlic, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. peppercorns crushed
1 bundle dahon ng sili, chili leaves
1/4 cup patis, fish sauce
3 siling haba
salt
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



In a casserole sauté garlic, onion and ginger. Add pork (including pork innards if using) and patis, cook for 2-3 minutes or until meat change color. Add in 8-12 cups of water and peppercorns, bring to boil, simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then add in pork blood and sayote simmer for another 3-5 minutes until sayote are just cooked but firm. Add more salt if required. Now add in the misua noodles cook for another 1-2 minutes, add in siling haba and chili leaves and cook for another minute. Serve hot.

Cebu Pochero, Bulalo

Cebu Pochero, Bulalo. There is no better way to cook a bulalo than to slow cook it until the tendons and meats almost fall off from the bone. Cebuanos call their bulalao pochero. Beef shanks in one piece with meats still clinging to the bone and the bone marrow safely intact at the bone cavity are slow cooked for hours which results a very savory beef broth with out the addition of artificial flavorings. Flavors are further enhanced by the use of bamboo shoots and sweet corns in cobs, these are the two vegetable ingredients of Cebuano pochero that distinguished the dish from the Tagalog bulalao version. I love bulalo but the dish is loaded with cholesterol that is evident by the amount of floating fats on the broth. I have to scooped them out, the best way is to chill the broth until the fats solidify this way it is easier to scoop them out. Here is my recipe.



Ingredients:

1 to 1.5 kilo bulalo, beef shank, in one piece
2 bundles pechay, trimmed
1/2 medium size cabbage, cut into wedges
4 young sweet corn in cob, cut in halves
1/4 kilo sliced bamboo shoot, pre-boiled
1 whole garlic
1 tbsp peppercorn
2 medium size whole onion
2 medium size onion, quartered
1 bundle chives or spring onion, cut in 2” length
salt



Cooking procedure:

Place the whole beef shank in a large casserole. Cover with water. Add the whole onion, garlic and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, remove scum that rises. Lower heat, cover and simmer/slow cook for 3-4 hours or until the beef tendons are tender. Remove the now tender beef shank from the casserole and keep aside. Place the remaining broth in a big bowl, set aside. Wash the casserole of all scum, using a sieve strain the broth and replace in the same casserole, add more water as necessary. Add in the bamboo shoot and sweet corn, bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the sweet corn are cooked. Season with salt to taste. Add in the beef shank, cabbage and pechay, cook for another 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are just cook, garnish with chives or spring onion. Transfer in a big serving bowl and serve at once with a dipping sauce of patis, kalamansi and siling labuyo.



See other related bulalo recipe;
Asado Bulalo, Beef Shank Asado
Bistek Bulalo
Bulalo

Crispy Pork Dinuguan

Crispy Pork Dinuguan is one popular version of the Pinoy's favorite blood stew dish. It is made up of crispy fried pork. In Vigan they use chopped bagnet a local version of crispy fried pork similar to lechon kawali. For my version I used chopped lechon kawali and pork intestines. I like my dinuguan with pork intestine, personally I always thought pork innards are essential ingredients for a good dinuguan. Of course other pork part like the pig face or ears can also be used as an alternative. For maximum crispiness fried pork should only be added when ready to serve. Enjoy…

Ingredients:



1 kilo lechon kawali, chopped
1/2 kilo pork intestine
10 cup fresh pork blood, strain
1 1/2 head garlic, crushed
1/2 thumb size ginger, crushed
1 head garlic, chopped
2 medium size onion, chopped
3 cup vinegar
1 cup patis, fish sauce
6 pcs. siling haba
3-5 pcs. bay leaf
oregano
sugar
salt
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



In a pot, put intestine and add enough water to cover, add crushed garlic and crushed ginger. Let boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until firm tender. Drain and let cool down. Cut intestine into 1/2” crosswise, Wash thoroughly, rinse and drain, keep aside. In same casserole sauté garlic and onions. Add intestines and stir cook for 5-10 minutes or until it start to sizzle. Add vinegar, lower heat and simmer uncovered, 8-10 minutes. Add in blood, bay leaf and oregano. Simmer and keep stirring for 5-10 minutes or until blood is cooked and colour turn to chocolate brown and thickens. Season with salt and sugar to taste. Before serving add in lechon kawali and green siling haba and simmer for another minute. Serve hot.



See other dinuguan Recipe:
Dinuguan, Black Pudding
Pork Dinuguan



See related lechon kawali and bagnet recipe;
Lechon Kawali
Vigan Bagnet

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken is one of the more popular methods of chicken preparation especially to Chinese and Western cuisines. To most Pinoy households lemon chicken is not as common, but is one of the main dish choices of bigger restaurants. Luk Yuen a Chinese specialty restaurant is now aggressively promoting their lemon chicken. Big billboards and posters of their lemon chicken are being displayed at their restaurant, specifically at their Cash and Carry branch at Makati City. I have been eating to this restaurant several times when ever I am in the area. I like their food plus the prices are reasonable and the place is very clean, it is a value for money. The other day their lemon chicken caught my attention because of the obvious reasons mentioned above, as expected it was equally as good. The dish is simple, there are no out of this world fancy ingredient except the lemons and I though I could replicate it.



The fried chicken coatings are light brown in color but still crisp when the lemon sauce was poured over them. And the inside is cooked evenly, moist and succulent. I suspect the chickens where previously steamed or boiled first before being deep fried. For the lemon sauce it was translucently clear and yellowish in color. Sweet and lemon sour, and a strong lemon zest. To attain these flavors, in addition to lemon juice, I used grated lemon rind and grated ginger. For that added honey sweet flavor I used real manuka honey but honey syrup is a good substitute. Here is the recipe.



Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves, de-boned
1 small bundle kinchay, trimmed
1 small bundle spring onion, chopped
1 pc lemon sliced thinly for garnishing
2 pc. lemon
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 head garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cup cornstarch
2-3 sliver of ginger
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
salt and pepper
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



Rub chicken breast with garlic, salt and pepper and arrange in a container with lid, squish out juice of 1 lemon over, evenly coat the chicken breast. Cover and chill in a refrigerator to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Steam or boil chicken for 5 to 10 minutes, remove from steamer, drain/pat dry with kitchen paper. Beat egg in a bowl, in another bowl, mix 1 1/2 cornstarch, baking powder and salt and pepper to taste. Deep fry dropping one piece at a time and in batches for 3-5 minutes or until light brown. Drain excess oil in a colander or paper towels and keep aside. In a saucepan, warm 2 cups of chicken broth from steaming the chicken, stir in sugar, honey, juice from the other lemon, lemon rind, half of kinchay and ginger. Season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for a minute, thicken sauce with 1/2 cup of cornstarch diluted in 1/2 cup of water, Simmer stirring frequently for another half minute or until sauce thickens, remove from heat. Cut each chicken breast diagonally, into serving pieces, arrange on platter. Pour sauce over the chicken, garnish with lemon slices, kinchay and spring onion. Serve.

Spaghetti with Fried Sardines in Hot and Spicy Sauce

Spaghetti with Fried Sardines in Hot and Spicy Sauce is a product from all those extra fried tawilis sardines in hot and spicy sauce from my last post. This one is straight forward all was needed was about cup of the fried sardines poured over a platter of cooked spaghetti noodles and topped with grated cheese. It was simply great the fried tawilis sardines sauce was just right, sweet sour, hot and spicy. The idea started when I first tasted a can of Master fried sardine in hot and spicy sauce, it was how my recipe for the fried tawilis sardine was created. Should you like to try this spaghetti version there is no need to cook the sardines yourself, just open a can of Master fried sardine, enjoy..



Ingredients:

1 platter spaghetti, cooked
1 cup fried tawilis sardine in hot and spicy sauce
or 1 small can Master fried sardines in hot and spicy sauce
grated cheese

Method:

Pour over sardine in hot and spicy sauce in a platter of spaghetti noodles. Top with grated cheddar cheese and serve.





See other related spaghetti recipe.
Pinoy Spaghetti
Pinoy Spaghetti Longganisa
Spaghetti Marinara
Tuna Carbonara

Fried Tawilis Sardines in Hot and Spicy Sauce

Fried tawilis sardines in hot and spicy sauce. You might have known already the tawilis of Taal Lake processed into sardine Spanish style in olive or corn oil. On this post I am offering an alternative way of preparing tawilis sardine, fried in hot and spicy sauce.

Tawilis is actually a sardine fish, a fresh water sardine fish specie found only in Taal Lake. Tawilis are usually crispy fried, cooked paksiw style or even grilled. You need to visit Tagaytay or Batangas should you wish to have a really fresh tawilis. Tawilis sardine prepared as Spanish style sardine in oil have now hit most of the more popular supermarket in Metro Manila, they are available bottled form.

Fried tawilis sardines in hot and spicy sauce conceived when I came to taste a similar canned sardine preparation from a popular canned sardine brand Master Sardines. Master fried sardine hot and spicy sauce has the sour sweet taste similar to the Pinoy spaghetti that Pinoy childrens and even adults have come to love.

To cook the dish the head of the fish has to be discarded, any small sardine fish can be used as substitute for tawilis. The fish are to be fried first prior to cooking in pressure cooker with the hot and spicy tomato sauce mixture. The process in similar to the usual method of cooking sardines in bottles, the fish are arranges inside the heat proof sardine bottles, prepared sauce is then poured inside each bottle over the fish. The bottles are then lightly covered with its lead and arrange in a pressure cooker with water up to about an inch below the bottle necks. It is then pressure cooked for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.



Ok my recipe was similarly cooked but instead I use a bigger rectangular heat proof glass container. The glass container I used was able to accommodate the 1 kilo tawilis minus the head of course. And I have to pressure cooked the fried tawilis for 2 hours before I was able to have the bones of the fried tawilis soft edible. The longer time was for the reason that I have a bigger single volume sardine and it is longer to soften the bones of fried fish.

Ingredients:



1 kilo tawilis, fresh water sardines
2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp sugar
3-5 red hot chili
2 tbsp crushed dried basil
salt
cooking oil

Cooking procedure:



Cut and discard head of each fish. Remove innards rinse and drain fish. Dust each fish with salt and quickly deep fry in high heat in batches for a minute or until outer skin is crisp brown but inner flesh is still soft, Remove from frying pan and drain excess oil keep aside. Mix and blend tomato sauce, sweet chilli sauce sugar, dried basils and salt to tastes keep aside. I a big heat proof glass container arrange fried fish side by side, insert the red hot chilli in between and pour over the fish prepared sauce mixture cover wit aluminium foil. Now put water on the pressure cooker, enough till halfway from the glass container top edge, slowly place the glass container at the middle. Seal the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the fish bones are edible soft.