Paksiw na tilapia

We visited my sister's home one weekend, and his husband had some fish brought over from Lingayen, Pangasinan. We had shrimp, tilapia, and milkfish. Seafood galore! My ate proceeded to cook the fish in the easiest way because it was an hour before lunchtime when the fish arrived. We watched with keen interest how the fish is cooked. This one's for paksiw, which can be done in under half an hour.

Paksiw is essentially a method of cooking that uses vinegar as the main flavouring agent, so you get a deliciously sour taste that goes perfectly well with hot, steaming rice!  The vinegar also acts as a preservative which not only makes the viand last a couple of days (if it is not totally consumed first), but it also enhances the flavour even after a day it is cooked.

Ingredients:
Tilapia, scales and innards removed
Ginger, crushed
Half a clove of garlic, crushed
whole black peppercorns
salt
sukang puti (white vinegar)
siling pangsigang, about 5 pieces

Procedure:
Place the ginger and garlic in the pot.

Next, place the cleaned tilapia flat on the pot. You don't really need a big pot to make paksiw. Just layer the fish to fit everything.

Pour the vinegar to fill the fish level halfway.

Add about half a teaspoon of salt, some peppercorns, and the sili.

Put the pot on medium heat til the vinegar boils, then lower the heat a bit to simmer.

The fish will be cooked in about 10 minutes. Serve with hot, steaming rice.

Technorati tags: recipe