Bangkiling or Tahitian gooseberries were new to me. And the suggested use was either as a souring agent for soup, or in a classic vinegared fish stew called paksiw. With very fresh bizarrely flat-bodied bilong-bilong on hand, we decided to try making a paksiw na bilong-bilong with bangkiling. The results were delicious, but I have to say, I’m not sure if we got ENOUGH bangkiling into the dish to make a “blindfolded” difference. The bangkiling plays a role similar to iba or kamias, and has a particular subtle flavor in addition to the acid kick, but the paksiw seemed just like a regular paksiw. Perhaps if we reduced the vinegar further and relied more on the bangkiling to sour the sauce, this would have been more memorable.
It’s nice to finally come across and taste fresh bangkiling, but I have yet to find it’s best or finest use. Maybe a sinigang would showcase this fruit more appropriately.
39 Responses
Yummy !!!! Now I’m hungry…Can I have one kaldero of hot piping kanin for this MM.
I wonder if you put a bit of coconut milk and simmer for a while what will be the taste :)
This kinda reminds me of my Dad’s inun-on. (Bicol version)
hi MM! we love to eat pickled bangkiling! try it!
ohhh interesting use!
I love this fish!!!!!!!!!!! even if i don’t know the name, i still buy it .. hahaha!this is yummy cooked pangat style…with patis and hot rice .. oh boy!!!!
Hmmmmm! namit gid..bago lang sa pandinig ko ang bangkiling kasi kamatis lang ang nilalagay ko dyan isa pa wala naman dito sa Saudi. Nice post MM.
MM, methink you’d be using an awful lot of bangkiling to sour your paksiw and even so, not get enough of the sour we usually associate with paksiw.
Perhaps there is something in vinegar (acetic acid?or other substances from fruit fermentation) that dampens or neutralizes the sour of bangkiling when subjected to high temperature? or the boiling process itself cuts down on its acidity? Note lemon losing some of its tart if juice is added early in the cooking process.
Oh, very photogenic paksiw though with the bangkiling!
Sarap! Nangangasim tuloy ako dito.
we use that as a souring agent a lot in my native home province. i can almost taste the fish! mmmmmm!
ay kalami! i love inun-onan lalo na pag mainit ang kanin tapos kakain nang nakakamay lang. tsalap!
I love paksiw…………!
I must say when your page first came up onscreen, my husband said: Yuck (looking at the fish eyes)! Me, my mouth started to water! Different sensibilities. Hahaha. Maybe you can do a post on fish eyes (yes or no?) in cooked meals!
MM…if you have bangkiling coming out of your ears…try this dip I saw today on one of the magazines at the car repair shop. I was flipping through the magazines while waiting for the muffler to get fixed!
Unfortunately, I never had the oppportunity to taste this bangkiling while growing up. I think I can only relate the sourness to kamias (that one I know!). After having read the comments as to how it is eaten…dipped in salt, I think this dipping salt/sugar from the magazine will do the bangkiling justice! It is taken from the book by Pichet Ong…Sweet Spot?
Now, if I have bangkiling or even fresh kamias, I will try this. But just by reading the ingredients, this is a keeper! Mr. Ong uses this dip for Julienned Jicama and sliced Avocados.
1/2 only of a long red finger chili or 2 Thai red chilies. stemmed, deseeded and finely chopped to yield about 1 tsp. only
1/2 cup RAW sugar like muscovado
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. mild sea salt like Maldon
Finely grated zest of 1 lime (if you are using this on avocados, then juice the lime and squeeze over the avocados)
Placed the chopped chilies on paper towels and pat dry …really, pat dry!
Then in a bowl, combine both sugars, salt, lime zest and the chili.
On a nice black plate, scatter the salt/sugar dip and top with the bangkiling.
wow! pinoy na pinoy. i wasn’t a fan of paksiw in my youth but rediscovered it several years ago. i must be getting old because as one advances in years, he begins to appreciate the simple pleasure of uncomplicated dishes. thanks for the post :-)
I love paksiw.I’m getting hungry just looking at the picture.
Marisse: if you want to try the bangkiling dippy-dy-do-da… I think subbing the red chilies for chipotle (if you can get it)…would be awesome…kasi it would give it a smoky hint. In fact, I think quadruple the batch but use the dried chipotle, and also sun dry the lime zest and put the lime zest in a bottle with the sugar….just like vanilla sugar. When the sugar is fragrant with the lime zest, then bottle evertyhing and give it to your kapitbahays …as a dip for kamias too!
Is it singkamas season? …the singkamas we have is not as juicy as the ones over there. If it is, then I would have already bought one and made the dip by now!
Wow, I’m so glad I’m eating a sour and spicy made-up dish while reading this post with the comments. Love it!
BettyQ: thanks much for sharing your new found sweet/salty dipper. You are one of the major contributors in making this blogsite laden with information, baking, cooking and gardening tips and anything out in the sun. Making this blog my all time and Number One favorite and to top it all it is all todo todo gratis talagang bigay na bigay. I believe I met this dipper a couple of times at various food street vendors in Bangkok. It is the same one they use with their famous sweet/salty dried tamarind, green mangoes and santol. I had seen them prepped it and all of them they used almires and they used dried siling labuyo (dried like mummified which makes a lot of sense due to lack of moisture in the sili to keep the dipper dry) including the seeds pound the siling labuyo with the lime zest, salt and sugar mixture and then mix it with the rest of the salt and sugar mixture. Of course, they used wooden spoon in mixing the dipper. I like your approach in making salt/sugar lime flavored keeping the zest in a bottle and chipotle chili – I imagine it is more flavorful. Hoping you got your car fixed today and drove it home with you. I was able to clone the dried tamarind. Peel the ripe sweet tamarind and let them dried out. I keep them on my stove top for four days and turn them every other day. Once the pods are dried, roll them in your prepared dipper rest them for another day and roll them in the dipper again.
it looks disgusting. i wouldnt eat that with a 10 foot pole.
BettyQ: I have seen the Bangkok folks used only white sugar no muscovado or brown sugar and no hint of lime zest I believe.
hi rose, in southern luzon, we call the fish “hiwas”, and yes doesnt only look yummy, it tastes good talaga. btw, we usually use dried kamias as souring agent for paksiw aka, “sinaing na isda” as we call it in batangas. Mr.MM have you tried using dried kamias? its good also for dishes with gata
I was able to order “tola” in davao city a long time ago, it is like regular kinamatisan but the souring agent is bangkiling. You could taste the sourness but nothing really out of the ordinary like fresh kamias. Dried kamias on the other hand has a different undertone, has anyone tried using dried bangkiling?
Hay, MC! I usually buy 4 boxes at a time of the Ripe Sweet Sampaloc (comes in a red box)…good for fiber! Now I know what to do with the ones that dry out if I cannot finish them in time! Thank you so much for describing the famous Bangkok sampaloc! I will purposely dry a a whole box of sampaloc and roll it in this spicy/ sweet dip!
MM…remember in your past posts, you mentioned your new found sampaloc favorite..the sweet spicy one? Maria Clara just described it how it’s done!
Millet…aha moment! Your candied camias…roll them in that sweet/spicy dippy -dy-do-da!
MC: I just enjoy experimenting and when something works, I want to share it with my “extended family”!!!
BettyQ: the street food that I love to clone are the roasted nuts (peanuts, casuy and almond) they sell on carts in New York. I already went high and low in the internet could not find any clue. I saw one vendor, he cooked them in a cooper pan which I believe in corn syrup and vanilla and when it reached a certain stage he vigorously threw in some dried sugar which looked like a mixture of sugar with some hint of turbinado. The nuts then are put in a container brushed with oil and the nuts do not stick together. They are coated individually with the cooked sugar like more or less banana cue. If you happen to unravel the recipe please do share it with me. I tried three times already and were all complete failures. Thank you.
disgusting, no problem, no one is forcing you to eat it. Besides, the idiom “I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole” refers to not having anything to do with a person or an item/thing. So saying “I wouldn’t EAT it with a ten foot pole” just makes you sound dopey. Does it mean you MIGHT eat it with your bare hands? Duhh. :) If you’re going to use an idiom, at least use it right.
Now, if I happened to interview you for a job in a supermarket, fish store or restaurant and you gave answers similar to your comments, I would probably turn to the Human Resources Manager and say “Ding. I wouldn’t TOUCH him with a ten foot pole. Let alone stick him in front of dedicated foodie customers…”
Oh, and you didn’t provide a functioning email address on your comment, so I would normally just spam filter/delete those types of comments outright, but I let it in so I could respond. Sometimes, I find some comments amusing in a sad kind of way, and posting them is sometimes better than not.
MC..try this. This is adapted from Martha Stewart cookbook. Though it is used for pecans, using it for almonds would work as well. I haven’t tried this one but I will give you another recipe later on which is what I use and addicting! It is one of my giveaways one Christmas. I made bottles and bottles of that one…not cheap at all since pecans is what I used. Anyway, here is the sugared almond recipe.
5 cups almonds (she used pecans)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. honey (maybe the carts use corn syrup …cost effective?)
2 tsp. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla (she didn’t have this)
Oven to 325. Roast the nuts till fragrant…about 10 to 15 minutes. Combine sugar, salt in small bowl and set aside.
Combine hney, 2 tbsp. water and oil in large saucepan bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and add the almonds or roasted casuy. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated 3 to 5 mi nutes. Transfer mixture to abowl and add the sugar mixture, tosss until combined and spread on parchment paper lined cookie sheet to cool down.
Hdere is a twist: you can add some spices too like 5 spice if you like 5 spice or Indian spices like cumoin, criander, aand a pinch of cayenne.
But here is the one I prefer:
1 pound pecans..boiled in 6 cups of water for 1 minuite. Drain well. While still hot, toss them in a large bowl with1/2 cup castor sugar or berry sugar
4 tbsp. melted butter
1 tbsp. honey or cornsyrup, light
1 tbsp. vanilla
Let the nuts sit in the bowl for a day. Mix well every now and then
Oven to 325 degrees. Put the nuts on cookie sheet and roast them for 30 min utes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. it should be nicely browned and crisp looking. Meanwhile, combine in a bowl:
1/2 tsp. each: salt, ground coriander. ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, and a pinch of ground peppper
When the nuts are done, add them to the spices and toss until well coated. I like to ad zp so I add a pinch of cayenne
Put nuts on cookie sheet, single layer and cool down ..no clumping! You can in add or subtract the spices.
thank you mm.
this is my favorite fish. i remember my old folks cook paksiw with out water and it’s done when almost all the liquid is gone. what is left of the sauce is the silvery liquid mixed with the fat of the fish. the fish is also good fried the next day. and i would sing “bilong-bilong, wala mata, wala ilong…” in delight. now, i see them sold dried in the market. they look very salty. someday i will try them.
balingkiling.. we eat them raw with salt and i remember them being used as marinade too.
I love paksiw although it’s the first time I’ve heard of bangkiling. Is it available in the US? I want to try it out instead of the usual vinegar. It looks so appetizing, I am getting hungry right now and definitely not disgusting :)
mm,
i think this is funny. speaking of idiomatic expressions, in ilonggo we describe somebody who is uneasy and perspiring too much as “baw ang balhas ya daw bangkiling”. LOL! this will describe “disgusting” right now. and i dont want to start a rave.
Thanks BettyQ: You are a life saver and thanks for these roasted nutty nuts recipes. The spicy one sounds like a good one to try comes the BER months. Here’s the proportion I use for my 3S Dipper – 1 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup fine sea salt or any other table salt, 1 dried mummified siling labuyo stem removed seeds intact. Pound siling labuyo well with the salt. Keep pounding pounding until torn into specks and mix well with the rest of the sugar/salt mixture. You tailor this one according to your taste i.e., add more sugar, salt or vice versa.
MM, just curious whether paksiw or pinangat how long do you keep it into a boil or simmer to get a perfect texture of the fish? Does the level of acidity matter as well?
Maraming Salamat, din MC! I will do this. I can just taste it now. Naglalaway na ako!
Oh, tthe spicy nutty nuts works really well with pecan because of the crevices..the spices stick to them…Don’t use walnuts. I brought it once to a function for the “boys in blue” and it was devoured in no time at all!
BD, different strokes for different folks is all I can say. I like the paksiw to be just barely cooked, however, I do like all the harsh acidity of the vinegar to evaporate. So I tend to undercook my version when compared to some other cooks. Also, I like to put kamias or other items UNDER the fish so that it is raised a bit off the bottom of the pan. Some folks cook this and let it sit for a while, I like to eat it very fresh off the stove… I understand this is terrific fried the next day, but I haven’t tried that yet…
Do the paksiw with batwan and not bankiling. We used to eat bankiling as a fruit.
MM Thanks. So for the paksiw, I guess you only put the fishes in after the vinegar has boiled off for a while. Hey, I did try the kamias with lots of fresh dill and few tablespoons of olive oil, and with heaping garlic fried rice on my breakfast plate, boy o boy.
we call this fish..HIWAS…it can be cooked in various ways like sinaing or sigang when freshly caught…bangkiling? is it the round kamyas or as we call it kalamyas? i think bangkiling is ”KARAMAY” as it is called in nueva ecija….ever tatsed the small blackish brown caramay prunes sold at baguio market as pasalubong….?
try to cook bilong-bilong or hiwas paksiw style in kamyas onions garlic and ginger with whole fresh tamarind fruits…superb!!!
try frying the fish till crisp and serve with a reduction of the liquid