Cook’s notes
It’s a fusion of Southeast Asian flavors with a staple of Italian cuisine. And it was born out of an attempt to salvage what could have been an inedible dish. I’ll explain as best as I can. But, first…
The tinapa used in this recipe came soaked in olive oil infused with chilies and other spices. This is not a sponsored post but we really love Ysabella’s Gourmet Tinapa. It’s the home-based business of a neighbor. Ever since our first order, we have become regular customers. We’ve tried their Gourmet Tuyo too but the spicy tinapa is our favorite.
What is tinapa?
It’s the name for smoked fish in the Philippines. Hot smoked, not cold smoked. While it is essentially a method of preservation, the smoking infuses a beautiful flavor to the fish. Any fish can be prepared as tinapa, bangus (milkfish) has been traditional for the longest time but the lowly galunggong (mackerel scad) has become popular over the last decade. Tinapa is sold freshly-smoked, frozen or soaked in oil.
The tinapa used in this recipe came soaked in olive oil infused with chilies and other spices. This is not a sponsored post but we really love Ysabella’s Gourmet Tinapa. It’s the home-based business of a neighbor. Ever since our first order, we have become regular customers. We’ve tried their Gourmet Tuyo too but the spicy tinapa is our favorite.
But why add mangoes?
It was an afterthought, to be honest. To saute the vegetables, I used what remained of the spicy olive oil from the jar of Spicy Gourmet Tuyo which we kept in the fridge “for future use” plus some of the spicy olive oil from the jar of Spicy Gourmet Tinapa. In the fridge, the leftover oil from the jar of Spicy Gourmet Tuyo continued to soak up the heat of the chilies, and the heat was intense. After the macaroni was tossed with the vegetables and tinapa fillets, the dish was so hot it made be cough involuntarily. We know that the smart way to temper the heat in a dish is to either add a sweet ingredient or something creamy. If you’ve ever wondered why coconut cream (or, alternatively, yogurt) is often a part of highly spiced South Asian and Middle Eastern food, that’s the answer. Hot chilies and cream balance each other out. But I was making a light pasta dish. It’s the height of the dry season in the Philippines and the Heat Index has soared to 50C over the past few weeks. Neither coconut cream nor yogurt would work. So, I opted for ripe and sweet Philippine mangoes. The result was just wonderful. Two mangoes, cut into thin slices, were all it took to turn a potential disaster into a gourmet delight. The recipe below includes plenty of parentheses with suggested alternative ways of making the dish in case you don’t have spicy olive oil.Spicy pasta tinapa with sweet mangoes
Ingredients
- 125 to 150 grams macaroni (about 4.4 to 5 oz) or your preferred pasta shape
- salt
- 6 tablespoons spicy olive oil from the jar of Gourmet Tinapa with all the spices in it (or use regular olive oil and add chilies, bay leaves and olives when you saute the vegetables)
- 1 to 2 bird's eye chilies (if using regular olive oil)
- 1 to 2 bay leaves (if using regular olive oil)
- 1 small carrot peeled, halved vertically and thinly sliced
- 2 to 3 sweet green bell peppers cored, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 2 to 3 sweet red bell peppers cored, deseeded and diced
- 1 medium white onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 6 to 8 pitted olives (if using regular olive oil)
- 4 to 6 whole fillets of Gourmet Tinapa
- salt
- juice from one lemon
- 2 ripe sweet mangoes skinned and thinly sliced
- chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions
- In a pot, heat about eight cups of water with a tablespoon of salt.
- When it comes to a rolling boil, pour in the macaroni. Stir a few times during the first two minutes then leave to cook until al dente.
- Drain the macaroni and set aside.
- In a frying pan, heat the olive oil (add the chilies and bay leaves, if using regular olive oil) and the carrot slices. Cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the green bell peppers and stir.
- Toss in the red bell peppers and onion slices, and saute for a minute.
- Add the tinapa fillets (and pitted olives if using regular olive oil) and cook, stirring lightly, until the fish is heated through.
- Dump in the cooked macaroni and toss to coat each piece with the spicy oil.
- Taste, and add salt if needed, before drizzling in the lemon juice and sprinkling in chopped parsley.
- Off the heat, add the mango slices and toss lightly. Garnish with more chopped parsley.
- Serve your spicy pasta tinapa immediately.
Pork version of gyudon