Barbecued Tuna Belly

 

The Philippines is known for its bountiful tuna and is served in most Filipino restaurants. They are usually caught in the waters of General Santos and Davao and are sourced all over the country. Two of the more famous tuna meat parts served in restaurants are the belly and jaw.

Ingredients:

    1 Tuna belly, cut into 3 parts

    Marinade:

        1/2 cup soy sauce

        1/2 cup Sprite

        1 lemongrass stalk, cut into strips and pounded

        3 tablespoons, calamansi or lime juice

        3 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

        2 slices of ginger

        1 teaspoon of black pepper

        1 tablespoon of cooking oil

        1 hot chili, diced

        2 tablespoons of oyster sauce

To make the barbecue sauce, bring the marinade to a boil then add a teaspoon of water mixed with corn starch. 

When cooking/barbecuing the tuna, brush every so often with the marinade as the tuna meat opens in the process of cooking.

Shanghai Rolls

 Ingredients

Using the previous ingredients from the fish relleno, add 1/4 kilo of diced shrimp and 1 more egg and mix well. Using an egg roll wrapper, roll about 3/4 of an inch thick and seal the eggroll by brushing egg on the sides to seal the eggroll. Deep fry the Shanghai rolls for a minute or more until it turns light brown. Set aside to cool and cut diagonally in half.

Sweet & Sour Sauce:

    1 orange, press to extract juice

    2 tablespoons light brown sugar

    1 teaspoon soy sauce

    2 tablespoons of UFC banana ketchup

    1 teaspoon corn starch mix with 1/2 cup water

Mix ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil and until sauce thickens, and serve.

Whitefish (Bangus) Relleno

 Ingredients

    1 whole Bangus fish, deboned

    1/4 ground pork

    2 eggs

    1 carrot, diced

    2 tblspns pickle relish

    1 sml box, raisins

    1 small onion, diced

    1 clove garlic, diced

    1 teaspoon black pepper

    1/4 cup soy sauce

    2 tblspns oyster sauce

    3 calamansi juice or 1/2 lime juice

When buying the fish, ask your fish monger to clean and separate the meat from the skin so you won't have the trouble of doing it yourself (as I did). In a bowl, place the skinned fish and add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 calamansi juice. Using another bowl, debone the fish meat and add the rest of the remaining ingredients except for the eggs and saute the meat in a pan until the pork is well. Put aside to cool for 30 minutes and add the 2 eggs while mixing.

After 30 minutes, using a spoon, fill the skinned fish with the filling using the opening of the fish head and seal it using a toothpick.

Cook the fish in a wok filled with oil or on a grill but wrap the fish in aluminum foil so it does not stick to the grill. Slice and serve with soy sauce mixed with lime or calamansi juice.

Chicken BBQ (Inasal)

Ingredients

    1 Whole chicken cut to 4 pcs.

    1 lemongrass stalk, diced

    3 slices, Ginger, diced

    2 tablespoons, sugar

    1/2 cup soy sauce

    1/2 cup vinegar

    1/2 cup Sprite

    5 calamansi juice

    3 tablespoons, Anato seeds

    1/2 cup cooking oil

Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl except for the Anato seeds and cooking oil. In a plastic bag, add the cut up chicken and the marinade and place in the refrigerator overnight. Mix the 1/2 cup of oil with the anato seeds until the oil turns reddish in color.

Heat a bag of charcoal in a grill and cook the chicken. To make sure the inside meat of the chicken pieces are well done, constantly brush the chicken pieces with the marinade and turn them as often as possible. Brush the chicken pieces with the anato oil when nearly done to add color to the meat. Serve while hot!