This has to be the most premium of the premium dried fishes, or at least one of them. A roughly two kilo live weight grouper or lapu-lapu, split open and bathed in a salt solution then rubbed with organic sea salt and left out in the sun to dry, just. Still a bit moist in the meaty parts, this was a feast for the eyes when still wrapped in heat sealed plastic. A few days before our long beach holiday, I was in Cebu on business, and I wanted to bring some dried fish back to Manila for the lenten holiday meals. So I sent Victor, my expert “food acquisition specialist” off to the Tabo-an market in downtown Cebu with a list of things to purchase. He came back with this beauty (and 3 more like it), among other dried fish wonders. The Tabo-an market has one of the best selections of dried fish I have ever seen and it is a pleasure to visit, but you will walk away with an incredibly pungent aroma on your clothing and body… But back to the Daing na Lapu-Lapu. At PHP490 per kilo, this seems like an incredibly pricey purchase, but a little goes a long, long way…
Victor purchased 2 kilos of the fish, or roughly 4 pieces, the one in the photo here being the largest piece. He couldn’t resist this specimen, because it had just arrived and looked so darned fresh, and I have to agree. From afar, if I didn’t tell you it was a dried fish, you might think it was fresh… the eyes just seem so real despite being dehydrated to the max! I am a bit wary of buying large semi-dried fish because I once bought one and a day later, the most humongous worm crawled out of it, just as I was prepping to cook it. I am told this is normal (?!) but I was a bit turned off, if you know what I mean. I suspect they were maggots or some other “I care not to know from where they were born” creatures. But what I can’t see, doesn’t bother me as much, and this dried lapu-lapu seemed incredibly pristine and no creepy crawlies anywhere, as far as I could tell.
Because they are semi-dried, I didn’t want to leave them out and have some flies find a new maternity ward, so I actually put these in the FREEZER as soon as I got home and that is where they stayed until we thawed them at the beach… Next up, two recipes that we did with this incredible dried lapu-lapu.
11 Responses
They are a good eating fish never had them dried though. They are superstars in Chinese restaurants especially at their lauriat banquet.
daing and ginisang upo….
chinese style salted fish fried rice….
MM, what’s up with all these recent alien like photos in your blog? First was the the glowing red alien crab and now you have a spotted, fanged fish ready to attack! hahaha
Can’t wait for the next monster from the deep photo in your next post! Gulp.
Ummm, sarap, sarap, can’t wait till I go back to Philippines this May. In Quezon Province, they too have good variety of “tuyo and tinapa”. The fishes they used are the fresh catch, not the left-over, so talagang masarap, especially those dilis, wow… then homegrown tomatoes and fresh eggs from the local farm.. wow.. and with green carabao manggo..wah, uwi na ako.
Yum-o! I remember having this with laing and langka vegetable in gata.
that looks incredible, MM! victor is either a genius or a very good student of MM. i would cook that bacalao ala vizcaina-style, after an overnight soak. curious about what you did with this.
I remember my trip to Tabo-an Market last year. After staying there for a scant 45 mins, the taxis refused to take us as we reeked of dried fish smell!!!!
We had a neighbor – the wife is an american, husband-half american, half Korean. They feed their 6 yar old daughtr “internatinal foods” including dry squid that came from the asian Lola. Whenever she comes to our house (close to the chilren’s playgrond), she brings a whole pack of dry quid. She will then pull some directly frm the plastic bag and munch on it like a beef jerky. The other kids does not seems to mind, but I remember wheneer she tries to talk to me… ohhhhhlalala, the opungent sweet smell of the stuff is aromatic.. I guess I guess I should be more welcoming since I eat tuyo, bagoong, etc..
where can i buy here here in manila? are these available at the salcedo market?
we are looking for possible buyers of grouper…?
Looking for a buyer of fresh fish (grouper or lapu lapu)