A scientist in the kitchen

Here is another Filipino dish I would like to share with you in this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging which Anna of Morsels and Musings is hosting this week. Sinugno is simply grilled tilapia after which it is wrapped in mustard leaves then cooked with coconut cream. Grilling adds a smokey flavor to the creamy coconut sauce and this combination goes great with rice.

I’m not much of a mustard leaves fan though, so I used instead, sweet potato leaves and malunggay leaves. And for that extra kick, I add a pinch of chili flakes (next time I’ll add more).

Sinugno

2 whole tilapia fish
1 inch ginger, crushed then chopped
1 1/2 cups coconut cream
1 tsp chili flakes
1 cup of sweet potato tops
1 cup of malunggay leaves
salt to taste

Salt the tilapia fish then grill. When done, put in a pan. Add the ginger on top of the fish. Pour coconut cream and sprinkle with chili flakes. Bring to a boil and simmer till sauce has reduced to half. Add the vegetables then simmer till the leaves are cooked. Season with salt. This is now ready to serve.

Note: I realize that not everyone uses whole tilapia fish, tilapia fillet would also work well. Tilapia tastes great with coconut!

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Tilapia can be grilled directly on the flame or you can wrap it with banana leaves before grilling. The difference with steamed tilapia in banana leaves is that you let the banana leaves be burnt till the skin is somewhat charred. It is a simple grill as you only need to salt the fish, wrap in a layer of banana leaves then grill it till the leaves are charred. That’s it!

We don’t use charcoal for grilling at home. We use dried coconut husks which are readily available. They lit up fast, no need to spend a long time waiting for the charcoal to glow. It also imparts a smoky flavor to the grilled food.

All you need to do is salt the tilapia or any other fish. Wrap in banana leaves and it’s ready to cook. Make sure to prepare the banana leaves this way.

Prepare a dipping sauce from fish sauce and calamansi/lemon. Add as much chili as your done.

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Ever wondered how a market looks like in other parts of the world? Check out “To market, to market”. Or you can share yours, too.

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In the Philippines, most fish are sold whole and not filleted. This is especially through in small town markets around the country. Where my parents live, is really a small town. It is not close to the sea so seafoods are not always available. But since we leave near a lake, we do enjoy freshwater bounty (how should one call them? they can’t be seafood, right?) such as shrimps and catfish and mudfish and tilapia. Tilapia is commonly sold whole, still alive in the market.

Anyway, I got tired of cooking tilapia whole so I filleted my own tilapia. Its not that easy really as I didn’t have a sharp knife. In the end, I had the fillet plus the whole skeleton with meat still clinging to the bones. I marinated the fish in rice wine and dark soy sauce then baked it for 10 minutes each side. A sudden inspiration was to add slices of kamias on top of the fillet just before baking. The fish was really tasty with a hint of sourness from the kamias.

Now, what is kamias? Kamias is the Tagalog term for bilimbi which has been presented by Andaliman on a previous Weekend Herb Blogging. Here’s my take on another dish that uses kamias.

Baked Tilapia Fillet with Kamias

Tilapia fillet
1/4 cup rice wine
1/4 dark soy sauce
unripe kamias

Marinate tilapia fillet in rice wine and dark soy sauce for 30 minutes. Arrange in an oven-proof tray. Top with slices of kamias then bake for 15 minutes.

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This week’s Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein. Want to know how farmers’ markets look like around the world? Or you might want to share yours! Check out “To market, to market…“

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Often, life as a graduate student can get you stuck in the lab for hours on end. Or something is just too crucial to go out and eat in the cafeteria. The could leave feeling hungry most of the time. The best thing to do is have a sandwich nearby. That’s what I usually have, some tuna spread or egg salad or some meat, whatever bread that takes my fancy and presto, I have my lunch or dinner. A cup of coffee or hot chocolate wouldn’t hurt either. I also have an assortment of herbs and spices to make my sandwiches more special. Like a few weeks ago, my friend bought me some black sesame seeds. Too many for my needs. So there they go in my pasta and sandwiches. Now, they’re sandwiches with an Asian twist. Little did I know, sesame seeds pack a lot of antioxidant punch! So I’m sharing this post to ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday courtesy of Sweetnicks.

Tuna sandwich with black sesame seeds

1 can tuna chunks, drained
100 grams lite mayonaise
black sesame seeds

Mix tuna and mayonaise. Spread to your bread of choice (I used wheat bread here). Sprinkle liberally with black sesame seeds. Toast and enjoy.

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Ever wondered how food markets look like around the world? Check out To market, to market…, a blogging event featuring the marketplace where we source our food. Share yours, too.

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