This dish combines the sweet creaminess of coconut milk (gata), the heat of chili, the light crunch of winged beans (sigarilyas) and the incomparable flavor and aroma of smoked milkfish (tinapang bangus).
Cook’s notes
It is the anti-thesis of cloyingly overabundant and lavish dishes. Yet, despite the simplicity, this sigarilyas at tinapa sa gata is vibrant with flavors.
Perhaps, it is the smoked fish. Or, maybe, it is the the fusion of the smoked fish with the coconut milk. I really can’t decide. It may be both. I could have cooked a more generic sigarilyas sa gata with fatty pork belly but I don’t think the outcome would be this wonderful. Surprisingly, it’s a pretty easy dish to make.
Three notes:
Coconut milk is not the same as coconut cream although you may dilute coconut cream with water to make coconut milk.
You can control the heat of the chili by scraping off and discarding the seeds and membranes.
Use fish sauce, not salt, to season the dish to give it a deeper and more nuanced flavor.
A very important tip before I start with the recipe: this dish is even better the next day after sitting overnight in the fridge.
Winged beans and smoked milkfish in coconut milk
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 one-inch knob ginger grated
- 1 bird’s eye chili chopped
- fish sauce to taste
- 1 bundle winged beans about 12 pieces, cut diagonally into quarter inch slices
- 1 boneless smoked milkfish
- 1 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Over medium-low heat, sauté the onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and chili with a dash of fish sauce until soft.
- While the vegetables soften, flake the fish into fairly large chunks (discard the head, skin and tail).
- Throw in the winged beans into the pan. Season with another dash of fish sauce and stir.
- Add half of the flaked smoked milkfish to the winged beans. Stir.
- Pour in the coconut milk.
- Cook over medium-low heat, covered, until the winged beans are cooked through but still with a slight crunch, and the mixture is almost dry.
- Toss in the remaining half of the smoked milkfish, stir and cook, uncovered, for another minute.
- Taste and add more fish sauce, if necessary.
Pickled oyster mushrooms