Filipino Christmas Recipes: Rellenong Bangus
It’s only 23 days before Christmas! Are you still working on your Christmas dinner menu? Well, worry not because we’ve got another recipe for you to add to your family/friends dinner: Rellenong Bangus.
Image grabbed from Knorr.com.ph
Sometimes spelled as relyeno, it’s a dish that hardly makes an appearance on your everyday Filipino dinner table. It sounds simple (relyenong bangus is stuffed milkfish), but it’s challenging to make. It can be extremely satisfying if pulled off properly, hence the reason why you don’t see it every night on the dinner table.
Here’s a recipe from Kawaling Pinoy:
Ingredients:
- 1 large whole bangus (milkfish, scaled and with gutted)
- juice of 1 lemon or 1 tbsp calamansi juice
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ cup green peas
- ¼ cup raisins
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- oil for frying
- salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
- Break the spine of the fish near the tail and just below the head. Starting at the neck, insert a long, thin spatula between the skin and the meat, going all the way to the tail. Gently go around the sides of the fish with the spatula to loosen the flesh from the skin. Starting from the tail, squeeze and push the flesh out through the neck. Pull the flesh out of the fish including the bones.
- Combine the hallowed skin, lemon or calamansi juice, and soy sauce. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Remove the spine from the flesh. In a pot, bring 1 cup of slightly salted water to a boil. Add the fish meat and cook for 3 – 5 minutes or until the color changes. Drain the liquid, then flake and debone the meat.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until limp. Add carrots and cook for 1 – 2 minutes or until tender. Add fish meat, green peas, and raisins, then cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Stir in oyster sauce then season with salt and pepper.
- Remove mixture from pan and place inside a bowl then stir in one egg. Using a spoon, stuff and fill the fish mixture into the skin and head. Dredge the fish in flour.
- Deep fry the fish in a pan or fryer on medium heat until golden brown. Remove from oil and let it rest on paper towels before serving. Best served with catsup or soy sauce.
Note: You can forgo the flour and wrap the fish in a banana leaf or aluminum foil and bake the fish at 325°F for 30 minutes or until done.
