Paksiw for the soul

Passport & Plate - Milkfish Stew

Philippines | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
1 (about 1 lb.) fresh, fat milkfish (bangus)
1 cup vinegar
¾ cup water
1 small quartered eggplant
1 piece (1-inch long) ginger
3 pieces hot green pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp. Fish sauce

 

How to prepare this recipe
1. Clean the fish without removing the scales. Cut into two or three pieces. Salt pieces and set aside.
2. Arrange fish in the pot. Add the ginger and whole peppers. Add vinegar.
3. Bring to boil without stirring. Add water and once it boils, add the eggplant. Continue simmering until fish is cooked. Add fish sauce and pepper to taste. Paksiw is best served cold.

 

The story behind this recipe
To a country with 7,107 islands, the abundance of seafood is a blessing. Fish is but a staple in the household. There are a hundred and one ways to cook fish and that’s any type of fish you can catch from the sea. This is why this dish reminds me of home because it’s the first dish I had to learn as a rite of passage to adulthood. For a patriarchal family like mine, a woman’s place is the kitchen. Skills like boiling an egg, frying a pork chop and cooking fish is valuable. Paksiw is an easy dish because all you do is put everything in the pot and let it cook. The flaky meat of the milkfish stands well to absorb the flavors of the broth. It has a sour and salty taste with a slight kick of heat from the peppers. All in all, it describes the spirit of a country enriched by trade, conquest and its search of national identity.

My first paksiw turned out very bland since I couldn't find the correct ratio of water and vinegar. Only later did I find out that you have to cook the fish in vinegar first to allow it to absorb into the meat. Often times it was a hit and miss dish for me and my grandmother always had to remedy my mistakes. As she mixed in the vegetables, she would relate stories of days in the farm where she grew up. Of how necessary vinegar and salt was in the province because of their lack of refrigeration. Only the rich cold afford that luxury and for folks like my grandmother, they would live by dishes like the paksiw with the fish coming from the day’s catch by my father from the stream near their farm. Listening to her stories was like an escape from the concrete jungle of which I was already born into.

Whenever I make this dish I am reminded of how much my parents had to go through to give us the kind of life we have today. Of how lucky I am to be able to enjoy the simple luxuries such as owning a fridge and being able to eat prime cuts of meat. Cooking paksiw humbles my soul and reminds me to always be grateful for the blessings of food.