Comments on: Sulay Bagyo / Leatherjackets

By: mikibabs

mikibabs — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:43:03 +0000

the fish “sulay bagyo” got its name from its behavior “ga sulang sa bagyo” or they appear in huge schools after a stormy weather, its thick leathery skin is very tough and has a very bad smell that sticks to your skin and clothes. remove the tough skin and you get one of the best quality white meat and perfect for deep frying. its liver, is very creamy if you collect them all, wrap it in banana leaves with tomato, onions and a bit of salt and charcoal grill it. sulay bagyo…one of my favorite fish dishes.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:41:22 +0000

Robyn, the name is in fact derieved from the thick and coarse skin…so you are correct. I have personally never tasted them but now I am curious… They aren’t readily available in Manila or I just haven’t been looking hard enough in the markets…

By: Robyn

Robyn — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:06:53 +0000

I haven’t posted on leatherjackets, though I passed a photo or two to RST a ways back. Chinese call them ‘aiqing yu’ (love fish) and they’re somewhat easy to find at Chinese wet markets here in Kuala Lumpur. I wonder if the name ‘leatherjacket’ isn’t derived from the skin, which is thick and almost rubbery and can be pulled off in one piece, just like a, well, jacket.
To my taste these sweet, clean-tasting fish are the ultimate for steaming Hong Kong-style, with nothing more than ginger, scallions, and cilantro. Yum!

By: linda

linda — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 01:18:14 +0000

leatherjackets are a common fish here in Oz and I love to just sprinkle salt and pepper on them and shallow fry til’golden brown.Delicious!

I’ll try cooking them in coconut next time – sounds good to me.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 21:26:48 +0000

RST, I think the name has to do with the belief that they only are caught or come near when a storm is imminent. However, we found these in clear blue skies… And yes, leatherjackets would be found in lots of other tropical seas around the globe, they are a common fish, relatively speaking.

By: RST

RST — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:55:03 +0000

I am pretty sure that my friend Robyn of eatingasia.typepad.com has reported finding in Malaysian markets a species of leatherjacket related to the Bicolano sulay bagyo. I will ask her to locate the post on it. To my ears, the name sulay bagyo is extremely beautiful and resonant. But what does it mean exactly? Any Bicolanos out there? It suggests “braving a storm” to me-but maybe I am way off the mark on this…

Richard
Opplicario@aol.com

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:22:14 +0000

Those fish look like Dory (in finding Nemo) in a “bold” role. Hehe

By: millet

millet — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:53:29 +0000

lee, is that the one they sell in cebu, the fish tocino and the tinik-tinik?

By: Gigi

Gigi — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 07:26:12 +0000

The Sulay Bagyo looks like my kindergarten-quality drawing of a fish. Looks like it tastes good. I like fleshy fish. Puede ba ‘tong sweet and sour but then it has no skin… I can imagine that this will indeed go well with coconut milk…

By: lee

lee — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 06:26:30 +0000

Sulay bagyo is processed into fish tapa, a tocino flavored “dried fish something” which looks like light amber translucent disks. Tastes weetish and might be quite tough to chew. More interesting are the sulay bagyo fish bones sold separately, must be fried to a crisp in seconds or all the sugary stuff it’s marinated with burns black.