Talakitok (photo of a giant one here), according to one site is Caranx ignoblis. Another site calls it cavalla fish. Personally, I do not know what its English name is and I’m not familiar with scientific names either. Talakitok, as far as my familiarity with it goes, is a fleshy fish with very fine scales and a hard “spine” on its lower body that ends in the tail. In the wet market, small talakitok would be about half a kilo in weight; the more common size would be around 1 to 1-1/2 kilos.
Talakitok is not an oily fish. The texture and color of the meat is similar to blue marlin. Because it has no small bones like bangus, bigger talakitok is good for filleting. Because I really intended to cook fish fillets in kalamansi sauce, I did not buy a whole talakitok; instead, I bought a kilo of talakitok fillet. I brought two slabs of fillet and sliced them at home. I washed and put them in the freezer and, when semi-frozen, sliced them. That way, the fillets were easier to handle and slice.
The origin of this recipe is lemon chicken, a popular dish in Chinese restaurants. Lemon chicken is cooked with thin slices of breast fillets. I substituted fish fillets in their place. Any firm fish fillets will be good for making this dish. It just so happened that talakitok was available in the market yesterday. Secondly, because lemons are not native to the Philippines and are rather expensive here, I used kalamansi, our native lemon.
While this is basically just another way of cooking and serving sweet-and-sour fish, the fillets are more convenient for kids to eat. Plus, the aroma of the kalamansi juice is just wonderful.
Ingredients :
1 kilo of fish fillets (I used talakitok fillets)
salt and pepper
1 c. of all-purpose flour
1/4 c. of cornstarch
1/2 c. of water
1/2 c. of milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. of chili sauce
3/4 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of pepper
2 c. of cooking oil
For the lemon sauce :
1/2 c. of lemon (I used kalamansi juice)
1 c. of water
3/4 c. (or more, depending on your taste) of white sugar
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of chili pepper
4 tbsps. of tapioca starch
For garnish :
1 tsp. of toasted garlic bits
1 tbsp. of finely chopped onion leaves (sibuyas na mura)
How to :
Cut the fish fillets into half inch slices. Then cut the slices into smaller pieces about 2″ long and 1″ wide. Season with salt and pepper.
Mix together the flour, cornstarch, water, milk, chili sauce, egg, salt and pepper to make a rather thick batter.
In a skillet or wok, heat the cooking oil until smoking. Dip each fish fillet into the batter and fry in hot oil. Cook only about 5-6 at a time so as not to overcrowd the skillet or wok; overcrowding brings the temperature down and may result in soggy fish. When the edges turn golden, remove from the oil at once and drain on paper towels. The batter-coated fish does not take long to cook. A minute is usually enough. Arrange the cooked fish fillets on a serving platter and keep warm.
Mix together all the ingredients for the lemon sauce and cook over high heat, stirring, until thick and no longer cloudy. Pour over the fish fillets and sprinkle with toasted garlic bits and chopped onion leaves. Alternatively, serve the sauce separately.
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