Although Tinolang Isda is not as popular as Tinolang Manok, it is a common dish we prepare at home.
And I thought that there had to be something to make it a little bit different. In cooking tinola, the first step is to saute garlic, ginger and onions. In cooking picadillo, the first step is to saute garlic, onions and tomatoes. I decided to combine the two, plus and minus some ingredients.
I used talakitok belly for this dish. I bought the whole belly and had it chopped in the market into serving size pieces, about 3″ by 3″.
The sili leaves were an afterthought. Just for contrast. We picked them from the sili plant growing in our backyard.
Ingredients :
1/2 kilo of fish belly or fillet, cut into serving pieces
half a head of garlic, crushed
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
2 chayotes, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
a few pieces of sili leaves
patis
a few pieces of peppercorn
1 tbsp. of cooking oil
4 c. of water
How to :
Heat a large saucepan or casserole. Pour in the cooking oil. Over medium-high heat, saute the garlic, onion and tomatoes until the tomatoes start to crumble. Add the chayote wedges and continue cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the water. Season with patis and pepper. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until the chayote is almost done. Turn up the heat to medium-high and start adding the fish belly or fillet pieces one by one. When the liquid starts to boil again, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the sili leaves. Cover for another 2 minutes. Serve hot.
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