RECIPE 3: ISDANG PAKSIW

Isda is fish in Tagalog. Paksiw, on the other hand, is a popular Filipino recipe which involves the use of vinegar, onion, oil, ginger and salt to create the sauce base of the dish. Apart from fish, lechon or roasted meat can also be turned into Paksiw eventually creating another dish called lechong Paksiw. The good thing about Paksiw is that it doesn't easily spoil owing to the added vinegar, a potent preservative. In fact the older this dish, the better it tastes. The same case holds true with the vinegar-flavored Adobo.

As a kid, Paksiw was introduced to me as a tongue twister rather than as a dish although I used to eat one especially Tilapiang (Nile fish) Paksiw. The word Paksiw when uttered alternately with the word Pasko (Christmas) in a fast phase proves to be a challenging and entertaining task for the tongue. Go figure :) Anyway, we seldom had the most common fishes for Paksiw like the small mackerel aka Galunggong and Milk Fish aka Bangus as we lived far from the sea. Tilapia and other fresh water fishes are mostly our fish ingredients for this dish. Paksiw can be spruce up with some vegetables such as eggplant, okra and green long pepper. My recipe in particular is more of a vegetable paksiw as the fish needs to be searched from the heaps of veggies.

Ingredients

fish (I had a red snapper for this recipe)

4 table spoons of vinegar

2 table spoons of oil

salt

onion

2 table spoons of sugar

half cup of water

pepper

ginger

vegetables (okra, eggplant, long green pepper)

Procedure

1. Clean the fish and cut into slices. Set aside. Chop onions and ginger. Rinse vegetables and slice as appropriate.

2. Pour half cup of water into the pot along with the vinegar, onion, oil, sugar and salt then mix. Put the slices of fish and leave it to cook for 15 mins.

3. When the fish is cooked, put vegetables on top. Cover the pot and leave the veggies to be cooked for 5 minutes to 7 mins.

4. Serve while it's hot. Add more salt to taste if necessary.

There you have it folks. Your easy to prepare dish. Enjoy cooking your own Paksiw!