Comments on: Marketman’s “Fancy” Rellenong Bangus… :) Part IV

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:29:10 +0000

allen, I understand what you are saying, and I accept that during my lifetime at least, “traditional way of cooking it” is indeed frying, if you are to count the percentage of folks who do it that way. But if we go back decades or centuries even, I suspect the method of stuffing and cooking, was introduced by the Spaniards/Mexicans, perhaps by way of the galleon routes. Fish relleno recipes are apparently quite common on the Mexican coast, and they stuff their fish with other seafood, aromatics, etc. However, they tend to bake the fish, probably in clay ovens. Since Filipinos probably did not have ready access to ovens, if they prepared this dish hundreds of years ago, it was likely grilled, or grilled wrapped in banana leaves, a sort of roasted/baked equivalent. Further, as I like to speculate often, Filipinos probably did NOT fry that much up until the time metal kawalis became quite economical and available to the vast majority of the population. It’s almost impossible to fry in a palayok or other clay cooking vessel… So while I do agree that frying is the most commonly known way to prep this dish in the Philippines, I suspect it has evolved over the decades and centuries. Rellenong talong is indeed fried, but curiously eggplants first roasted. Rellenong crab is fried typically, but as I tried in one post many years ago, delicious over a grill as well. Rellenong green bell peppers is best baked, in my opinion. So its a very interesting thing to think about… this move in Philippine cuisine to fry just about everything… it’s probably a phenomenon of less than 100-130 years old. :)

By: allen

allen — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:55:19 +0000

Nice try on the relleno MM :) I still prefer the traditional way of cooking it – deep frying the fish until it becomes golden brown. We mix the bangus meat with some ground pork plus add some kinchay.

By: nuno

nuno — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:13:44 +0000

It will be a lot better if you deep fry it in lard :)

By: Joy

Joy — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:16:14 +0000

I just bookmarked this page and will try this dish!

By: lee

lee — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:56:51 +0000

Namit! I can eat a whole relleno everyday for a week!

By: Roland

Roland — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:50:00 +0000

“But not to worry, this is a forgiving dish… just use a strip of scotch tape and go on as usual. I jest of course, just checking if you are reading post carefully, I DID NOT use scotch tape!”

did you use duct tape? ;p

I see premade Rellenong Bangus that are frozen in local Asian stores here in Texas. I haven’t been that brave to try them – I wonder of the quality.

Thank you for sharing this – I may get brave enough to try it.

By: Faust

Faust — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:40:44 +0000

it’s so mouth watering…. *drools*

By: Betchay

Betchay — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:56:18 +0000

Sosyal na bangus! looks good to me!

By: Maki

Maki — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:12:16 +0000

surely this is one fancy treat for everyone in the family…
I love the Bangus’ belly part!!.. :D

By: Marilou See

Marilou See — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:10:10 +0000

That was a good idea to cover the rapture…scotch tape =) how come I didnt think of it before.he he he…great recipe for filling something to work on for this coming Chinese New Year. Keep those great ideas coming!