An Ilonggo Favorite - Pinamalhan nga Isda

Ilonggos love pinamalhan using almost any kind of fish with this quick and easy recipe. 

Rooting from the word "mala" meaning dry, PINAMALHAN is an Ilonggo style of cooking fish where it is stewed until it becomes ( almost) dry.

The cooking process is very simple - it just involves "stewing" the fish in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, peppers and other spices until dry then add a bit of oil.

Among the fishes that often makes the PINAMALHAN plate are bangus, salmonite, bilong-bilong, sapsap, abo, lupoy and aloy, among others.

So let's start stewing and enjoy PINAMALHAN.

Here's a basic Pinamalhan nga Isda Recipe

Ingredients 

• 1/2 kilo fish (or adjust to the number of pieces)
• 1 cup native vinegar (adjust to cover all the fish)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (adjustable, optional) 
• 1 medium size onion, sliced
• 2 pcs siling pansigang (adjustable, optional)
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed (adjustable)
• 1 thumb size ginger cut into thin slices
• Salt and pepper
• Oil, (optional)

How to cook Pinamalhan na Isda

1. Clean the fish throroughly removing all the guts
2. In a pan, place fish then top it with garlic, onion, chili and ginger.
3. Pour in the vinegar and soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Cover and simmer in a medium heat for 15 minutes (Or until the fish are cooked).
5. Let it dry in the pan, with almost no sabaw.
6. Drizzle with oil, if you prefer.
7. Serve with hot rice

All the measurements are just guides for usually at home, we usually adjust the the spices to the amount of fish. We just throw in the ingredients without even measuring. 

Souring fruits can also substitute for vinegar. Most Ilonggos use batwan fruit for pinamalhan. Others use iba or kamias, green mangoes (or binuro) bayabas (native kind) or just tomatoes.

Most of the time, our pinamalhan recipes become paksiw as we tend to leave a good portion of the vinegar-soy sauce mix that makes a grear sauce/sabaw with hot rice.

Just taste what you are cooking after the vinegar has boiled then make some adjustments. For big-sized fishes, just can slice them into serving sizes. Enjoy!