Food and Memories: Sinigang na Malaga sa Dalandan

                Finally I decided to write again on my blog. It has been a while. I was very busy about a lot of things. Oh well, the good thing though is that I have the motivation to write again.

                 I always make some time to cook, no matter how busy I am, it is my way of reliving the good memories. For this weekend we had Sinigang na Malaga sa Dalandan. We went home to the province and luckily Aunt Deling harvested from from her fishpond, and she gave us some crabs and Malaga/Samaral/Sandig.

                 We also had a lot of Dalandans that are not too sweet and not too sour. In front of our house was a Dalandan Tree-- bearing fruit all year round. So for this weekend, I will try to recreate what we craved to eat on the way to Manila, which is of course Sinigang na Malaga.

                 In cooking fish, my Aunties were very particular with the process. It is always a must to cook the fish with minimal water and lots of salt in high heat. This is to remove the fishy smell of the fish.

                 Another thing to remember is that cleaning this kind of fish is not that easy – hubby does it for me, always. I am so clumsy I always end up pricking my fingers and getting sick afterwards.  After we harvested our pechay from our mini garden,it is now time to cook some hearty lunch.

 

        Sinigang na Malaga Sa Dalandan

 

Ingredients:

1 kilo medium size samaral, about 3 pieces

1 medium size onion, quartered

1 medium size tomato, quartered

1 medium size onion, chopped

1 medium size tomato, chopped

1 bundle pechay, cleaned

1/2 cup dalandandan

4-5 pcs. siling haba

salt

Procedure:

1. Cleaned the fish.

2. In a pot bring to a boil 1 and 1/2 cups of water, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes and salt.  Cook the fish in high heat until it boils and half cooked.

3. Add 2 more cups of water, bring to boil.

4. Add the peachy and siling haba on top of the fish then continue to simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes.

5. Season with more salt if needed. Add the diced tomatoes and onions, do not overcooked.

6. Add the dalandan juice before serving. Arrange the half cooked tomatoes and onions with the pechay for aesthetic purposes. :)

And so after 30 minutes-- it is done! Lunch is ready. It is best eaten with patis and chopped sili.