Last Friday I took a day trip up to Bogo, in Northern Cebu, specifically to identify suppliers of seafood to supply our restaurants and as a result, help the storm ravaged areas get back on their feet. The more products we can purchase up North, the better for the residents there. And sea produce is an excellent way to go directly to the source and to provide income for fishermen and their families… The primary objective was to find a supplier of three types of danggit or rabbitfish products which is abundant in the area — the basin in the photo up top is filled with freshly caught danggit.
We managed to find a trusted supplier through referrals and ended up at a makeshift danggit processing business that was nothing more than a few covered structures and outdoor drying areas. The fish were cleaned by locals in what is a very tedious and delicate process.
It is amazing to see how quickly the fish are processed, and I have written about this before, in this post.
The fish are washed carefully by hand…
…and instead of being dried, we purchased the filleted fish for further processing in Cebu City a few hours later. They packed up 10+ kilos of cleaned fresh danggit in one kilo portions and we placed them in coolers with lots of ice for the 2.5 hour trip back to Cebu.
Once in Cebu, we marinated the fish in coconut vinegar, salt, spices and garlic and semi-dried them for a brief period and let the flavors meld.
Refrigerate for 1-2 days or freeze if you don’t plan to eat them soon after you make them.
Heat up some lard or vegetable oil and fry the danggit until just golden on the edges, having a balance of crisp exterior and still chewy, moist interior. This tastes “fresher” than fully dried daing na danggit and the marination adds substantial flavor to the dish. Called lamayo, this marinated and semi-dried danggit is utterly delicious and is only the first of three ways to prepare rabbitfish…
26 Responses
Oh my! Fish and Chips rolled into one.
Love this tutorial!!
MM, how did you semi-dried the fish? Under the sun or low in an oven?
good morning sir! danggit is my favorite pasalubong from Cebu. i saw you in one of GMA’s show last night, Isabel Oli was the guest host. nakakatakam ang zubochon lechon! sana magkaroon na rin ng outlet dito sa metro manila.
Visiting puerto Princesa and enjoying lamayo at breakfast.
was wondering what they do with the processing discards. Might they use them with other organic waste to turn them into organic fertilizer? Just a thought on other sources of livelihood for the community if they produce discards in great bulk.
Danggit has nice texture and flavor but leave the cleaning to the experts. The guts are so smelly and the spines on the fin are razor sharp.
I want to try “bakasi” or mini moray eels which Marketmanila featured before.
I have always wondered how to cook fresh danggit whenever I see it at Shopwise. Will defintely wait for your other posts.
I love lamayo!!!
I remember when we were living and had a food business in Sangley Pt, the PAF Pilots (our good customers) would have their flying hrs. either to Cebu or to Palawan, my Father would ask them to buy lamayo for us, just for our family consumption. Fresh & so good when fried!
Well, anything Danggit to us is an absolute heaven!! :-)
Thanks MM for this tutorial!
Ohhh .. so that’s what danggit looks like in real life. I’ve only seen the dried butterflied version. I admire the idea of supporting small businesses. I find it hard to come to terms with the fish pan Marketman and this side of him. It just seems to good to be true. But I’ve been reading this blog for almost 6 years now and he’s the real thing. I just wish more people had his integrity and genuine concern and love for everything Philippines, culinary and all.
Soooo … Zubunggit? Hehe.
Lerker, it’s okay to have several sides to a “pan” — but seriously, we have always strived to support local sources… we only buy our milk for leche flan from a small dairy cooperative in Cebu, not canned or boxed from the grocery. We buy our crabmeat and other seafood from Bantayan, shrimp from farmers in moalboal, dried fish from Bogo, many vegetables from Mantalongon, kabug or millet from Northern Cebu, flowers from Busay, etc. Cris J., as Lee suggests, cleaning the danggit is an evil task best left to experts. I have seen it done several times now and have no desire to learn how to do it myself. Lee, I have a few photos of the eels from the Bogo market, in a post up the next few days or so. Connie, believe it or not, all of the innards are made into a delicacy, a kind of danggit innards patis or condiment with lots of salt. I haven’t seen it or tasted it, but it’s part of the spoils for the folks who clean the danggit, they get to keep the innards and make their own guinamos of sorts. cecile, yipes, I haven’t seen that show, but it was taped almost two years ago I think, so you must be seeing a re-run or something… ami, semi-dry under hot sun, covered with netting if possible to ward off flies. It’s close to summer now, so it’s the best time to do dried or semi-dried fish.
So the name is lamayo. I sometimes see them available at Makati Supermarket and I do buy a package for a good breakfast fare!
OMGee! My mom’s originally from Puerto Princessa, as a child whenever we visit our lola, she used to serve us Lamayo.. we always request these for breakfast, lunch and dinner even for merienda when they will coat it with brown sugar and fry till sugar caramelize.. SARAP!
I used to bring back loads of it in Dubai as pasalubong to friends often id tell them it’s fresh daing as they have not heard of lamayo before..
Craving for candied lamayo right now!!!
Anne, that’s an amazing tidbit and coincidence. I was playing with marinades, and actually did one with a touch of muscovado sugar that turned out nicely. And other with chili, as well as paprika, etc…
You made me miss home… ill be on a lookout for some rabbit fish here at the local fish market in Dubai perhaps I can make some homemade lamayo as well… Splendid indeed Marketman! I guess you should start selling lamayo in your Zubuchon outlets.. but i wonder how you’d name it- Zubonggit, Lamachon..:) great stuff!
@Anne. My friend in Dubai makes lamayo when their ship is docked. With the searing heat of summer in Dubai in the coming months, a good lamayo might take just a few hours of sun drying.
THAT looks delish!!!
I love this. I think I love it even more than bulad na danggit. :)
I was told that sprinkling a little water with the hand while cooking makes a crispier danggit.
Kudos MM for your efforts in helping Cebu recover quickly. Ang sarap ng timpla ng danggit.. ganyan ang gusto hindi crunchy you get the flavor of the fish better.
Cheers–
Yummy! Had my first taste of lamayo in Puerto Princesa. Sana meron din dito sa Manila…
that last picture made my mouth water!
Very imformative! We were able to bring some dried fish back to Toronto from Manila from our last trip, too bad the small wet market we went to did not have the actual “danggit” from Cebu. Nonetheless, we’ve been slowly consuming them for breakfast ofcourse with fried rice and some 3in1 Nescafe pack as well! :)
@Lee perhaps you can give a shout out from your friend for the lamayo here in Dubai hehe just went through the wet market here but aren’t available … ho hum for my lamayo quest
I like to eat danggit but i don’t know to prepare it. as i have seen fro your presentation i can almost do it well. thank you for sharing to common tao…
very informative and i will do it at home. thank you for sharing. to market manila your contrubution are highly appreciated.
thank you very much.
luciano o. gajutos, DVM
Asa ta mopalit ug lamayo danggit ?