Sharp Yet Balanced

Passport & Plate - Milkfish Paksiw with Clams

Philippines | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
3 Oriental Eggplants, round ones (180g)
2-3 small Bitter Gourds (“Ampalaya”) (40g)
1 ginger (120g)
1 whole garlic head
1 Fresh Milkfish (“Bangus”) (600g), cleaned & gutted
250g Clams (“Halaan”)

3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp rock salt
1 tsp Cracked black pepper
1 cup Vinegar(plain)
1.5 cups water

 

How to prepare this recipe
Cut the eggplant & bitter gourd into quarters, lengthwise.
Peel & slice the ginger into thin strips. Crush all the garlic & remove the skins.
Cut the milkfish into 4 pieces. Include the head & tail.

Take half of the garlic & ginger. Create a "bed" at the bottom of a large pot. Place the milkfish pieces on top. Scatter all the vegetables evenly & lay another layer of the remaining garlic & ginger.

Pour in the vinegar & water. Sprinkle salt & pepper evenly.
Distributing the ingredients evenly ensures consistency in taste.

Bring to a boil over medium heat with the pot covered. DO NOT STIR, actually NEVER STIR this dish. After it has boiled (about 7 mins.) bring down to a simmer for another 3-5 minutes until you start to smell the sharpness of the vinegar & garlic.

Check if the fish meat is starting to be milky white. If so, place in the clams & fish sauce. Again do not stir.

After 5 mins, the fish & shellfish should be just about cooked. Give a quick taste. The vinegar & garlic should give you a sharp flavor but should not be overpowering. Adjust salt & fish sauce to taste. Let simmer for another 5 minutes with the lid partially ajar to give you cues on the smell.

After 5 mins open the lid & take a whiff of the steam that will rise (BE CAREFUL, can be hot!). The vinegar should have a bit of a sting to the nostrils but not too much as to make you sneeze or cough. This indicates that the vinegar has now been adequately reduced. A quick taste should indicate that all the flavors from the vinegar and the garlic to the fish sauce to the saltiness of the clams are now balanced.

Take off the heat and serve over freshly cooked rice. Works well too with garlic rice.

 

The story behind this recipe
This is based on the recipe of my grandmother. She used to cook it with fish given to her by her students. She was a well-loved principal in the province.

In our culture, we all live under one roof and this is how the story of the recipe progressed. My mother, coming from a Spanish-influenced family, uses full and heavy flavors in her dishes. This dish, however, is all about the natural flavors of its ingredients.

You know as a kid, I never really liked this one. The garlic & vinegar was too strong for my young palate. All I knew back then was fried chicken. I remember my grandmother & mom discussing over the simplicity of the dish and how it wasn't popular with us kids. My grandmother would always have her way as she was the standing matriarch then. Then she passed away, and the dish was forgotten, never again seen in our table.

Until one day my mom, simply decided to re-try some of the old recipes & see how she can add her own style into it. And this is one of the dishes she perfected. It took a while for her to get it, tweaking it ever so little, playing with the ginger and the garlic. But never dared on the vinegar, never ever attempting to stir it as the grandmother has instructed. Only in the past year, after my father also passed away, have I appreciated her version.. I’m not sure why, maybe because we talked more now than before.

She taught me her version and I cook a lot, doing my own thing as well, especially that I am an outdoorsman who values efficiency when cooking. And it's funny that we would also argue about our own ideas on the dish, similar to how she and my grandmother used to back then.

What you see now is my version, the one with clams. I wanted to give the dish a taste of the sea, balancing out the earthiness of the milkfish. My relatives love my version, but they like my mother's better. Ok I know, this may not be the best among the 3 versions, but it carries the latest story over three generations. Who knows how else will it evolve?