By Jun A. Alindogan
I grew up surrounded by fish. My mom’s hobby was fishing with her relatives in our coastal hometown. The districts near our town’s fishport had small wet markets filled with a variety of fish common in our area. My mom enjoyed fishing early in the morning or near sundown, bringing home the catch for our meals. Some fish ended up on our breakfast or lunch table. While I never learned how to fish, I love eating all types of fish, except for the bony ones.
I no longer live in my hometown because our family has decided to sell our ancestral home due to perennial flooding. Since I now live in the foothills, I miss the kinds of fish I grew up with, as fish are scarce where I currently reside.
Our mother had to learn how to prepare delectable fish dishes for us, since we were carnivorous as children. She also had to devise unique ways to present the food in a manner that was both attractive and nutritious, without overpowering its traditional flavor.
The types of fish common in my hometown include talimusak (needlefish), biya (gizzard shad), sapsap (silverbelly), bisugo (threadfin bream), bangus (milkfish), and bidbid (ladyfish). I clearly remember them because they were cooked in different dishes using basic ingredients such as vinegar, soy sauce, tomatoes, ginger, coconut milk, chili leaves, Chinese cabbage, regular cabbage, bitter gourd, eggplants, potatoes, guavas, sweet potato leaves, and eggs. Nothing fancy.
I have never learned how to cook any fish dishes, although I tried once when I was on my own many years ago after my siblings resettled in a southern province and abroad. I think the preparation is relatively tedious. However, I can usually tell if the fish used in a dish is fresh, even if it has been frozen.
One of my favourite dishes is ladyfish balls in sweet-and-sour sauce, or simply fried in a wheat-flour batter, served with noodle soup and sprinkled with fried garlic and leeks—a hearty soup, typically enjoyed in rainy weather.
Another dish I enjoy is bisugo (threadfin bream) simply prepared in vinegar, water, ginger, eggplant, and bottle gourd. While a few Filipino traditional fish dishes have recently become fusion, I still prefer the basic dish with which I am familiar.
Talimusak (needlefish) is usually dried in the sun for a few hours, then fried and placed on small barbecue sticks, and served with a vinegar dip of chopped chilies and red onions for a healthy snack.
One common dish is milkfish steak in lemon juice, soy sauce, and onion rings. Boneless milkfish was uncommon in my growing-up years.
The fish are not raised on farms, but they grow naturally upstream in rivers and bays. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for their diminishing size and numbers. I never knew of other types of fish farms besides milkfish when I was younger. Technological advances and community encroachment may be crucial factors in each fish story.
In my province, there is a lake called Laguna de Bay, famous for ayungin (silver perch), which is flavorful in a tamarind-based soup. Two years ago, when my youngest brother and his family returned on holiday, he asked me to buy dried silver perch for him to carry with him to his home in North America. Unfortunately, overfishing is a major concern.
Another issue facing Laguna de Bay is the proliferation of water hyacinth, which adversely affects aquatic life and navigation. Although some community-based NGOs collect the plants and convert them into slippers, this commendable effort is insufficient, given that Laguna de Bay is the Philippines’ largest lake, spanning roughly 911–949 square kilometers (km²).
With the passage of time and the advancement of exploration, we may discover new species of fish that have not been a part of our traditional food sources. The continuous quest to identify new fish that can be consumed is a means of ensuring that there is a sufficient supply to satisfy the nutritional requirements of our population.
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Manuel A. Alindogan, Jr. or Jun A. Alindogan is the Academic Director of the Expanded Alternative Learning Program of Empowered East, a Rizal-province based NGO in the Philippines and is also the founder of Speechsmart Online that specializes in English test preparation courses. He is a freelance writer and a member of the Freelance Writers’ Guild of the Philippines (FWGP).
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