Milk Fish

Milk Fish

The milkfish is the sole living species in the family Chanidae. The Hawaiian name is awa, without initial glottal stop, not to be confused with ‘awa, with initial glottal stop, the name for kava. It is called bangus in the Philippines, where it is the national fish.

The milkfish is an important seafood in Southeast Asia and some Pacific Islands. Because milkfish is notorious for being much bonier than other food fish, deboned milkfish, called "boneless bangus" in the Philippines, has become popular in stores and markets.

Another popular presentation of milkfish in Indonesia is bandeng presto (ikan bandeng is the Indonesian name for milkfish) from Central Java. Bandeng presto is milkfish pressure cooked until the bones are rendered tender.

Different Methods of Preparing MilkFish:

1. Daing na bangus (dried milkfish)
Dried milkfish is a manner of preparing fishes and other seafood. Such can be salted, sun-dried, or marinated in vinegar with garlic. Dried milkfish can be best served with fried rice, salted egg and tomatoes, and a cup of freshly-brewed coffee.

2. Kilawin
Kinilaw means to soak in vinegar without cooking. To prepare kilawin you would only need to mix the cleaned fish, vinegar, ginger, lemon, and onions. Fishermen treat themselves by eating kilawin after strenuous long hours of fishing. Both dried milkfih and pagkikilaw are manners of preserving fish and other seafoods.

3. Inihaw na bangus (grilled milkfish)
Grilled milkfish is a very popular dish in important occasions or pulutan for those who love drinking alcoholic beverages. Fresh milkfish stuffed with onion, tomato, and ginger wrapped in aluminum foil is grilled to perfection. The fish is moderately charred outside but moist inside.

4. Sinigang na bangus (Stewed milkfish in tamarind)
Nothing beats eating hot stewed milkfish in tamarind in suiting yourself up in a cold and rainy night.

5. Paksiw na bangus
Cooking paksiw na bangus saves your time and energy since it is very easy to prepare. You only need to soak the fish in vinegar and water, bring it to boil, and then add ginger, garlic, onion, and bitter gourd. Adding kamias or widely known balimbi would make it more sour and flavorful especially to those who love eating sour dishes.

6. Lumpiang bangus
Go to the wilder side by having a taste of lumpiang bangus since lumpia is usually prepared using ground beef or pork. Lumpia is perfect with tomato ketchup or soy sauce with lemon. This dish is also perfect for health conscious people.

7. Adobong bangus
The most popular Filipino dish, add a twist by using milkfish instead of pork or chicken.

8. Sisig
Sisig, term meaning “to snack on something sour,” is a Filipino dish usually made of pork, fish, chicken, pig's head, and liver, lemon, onion, and chili peppers. Serving the dish with raw egg on top on a sizzling platter is really mouth-watering.

9. Steamed milkfish
Health conscious people must try eating steamed milkfish. Preparation is easy cleaning, seasoning and steaming plus you get to indulge yourself without thinking much about the calories you are taking in.

10. Rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish)
Stuffed milkfish it is considered to be a special dish due to the amount of work involved in cooking. Preparing the milkfish itself is very tedious since it must be scaled, gutted, and cleaned. Removing and preparing the fish meat must be done while keeping the skin intact. This includes deboning, stuffing, and stitching, which takes a lot of time and effort. These are some ways to cook milkfish here in the Philippines. You can cook this at home because that ingredients are cheaper but yet delicious.

Read More at Wikipedia
Recipe for Milk Fish  Link1     Link 2