After a decade of say monthly visits to the Nasugbu market in Batangas, I have developed a pretty good idea of what is likely to be on offer in the seafood section. Suffice it to say the supply and selection is erratic, but rarely has there been nothing to choose from. So when we head to the beach these days, we really only bring food for roughly 1/3 of our meals. We leave it up to fate and the local catch to determine what we will be eating for the rest of our meals. Last week, we found this typical hodgepodge of stuff that we cooked for a hearty lunch…
We found some nice lobsters, a rare find even in Nasugbu, and got two kilos worth, threw them on the charcoal grill after slicing them down their bellies, basted them with a butter, salt and dalandan mixture and sprinkled them with chopped Italian parsley just before serving. They were good, but not brilliant. We only indulge once or twice a year on lobster like this so it’s a bit disappointing when they turn out a little less than wonderful.
Medium to large sized suahe were sauteed in a light tomato sauce (actually a bottle of passata that was nearing expiry date, with some onions, garlic, salt, pepper and chilies. The shrimp gave off a lot of liquid, making the sauce soupier than intended, but they tasted great.
We also found some small fresh tawilis from Taal lake, another unusual find in the Nasugbu market, and we gutted them and sprinkled them with some salt and Wondra flour and deep fried them. Amazing. Just eat the whole fish in two bites. Also good with a spritz of lemon or other sour citrus juice.
We also made a langka salad (unripe jackfruit salad) that turned out better than most of the ones we have made recently, something I attribute to the freshly squeezed coconut cream (lots of it), heavier seasoning, and the addition of pickled ginger. The latter was something we did as a result of the ginger in kinilaw revelation. Chilled, this langka salad was the perfect dish to have with fried and grilled seafood. We also had a green mango and bagoong (shrimp paste) salad, lots of rice and ripe mangoes for dessert. :)
16 Responses
MM, nice post. Miss the tawilis but would like to have a taste of your langka salad.
(typo error, i believe, “and the addition of picked ginger” “pickled” i suppose?
Salivating over the seafood. And dying to try that langka salad!
bearhug, thanks, post has been edited to reflect “pickled”. Lady, just realized I have never posted the langka salad recipe, will do that soon… :)
My first time to comment but I’ve been browsing for quite a while now. Great site MM! I love how readable and eye candy your posts are.
Seafood galore! Even if I already ate dinner, I think I’m getting hungry! :)
Oh wow…big lobsters (I only see puny sizes here in Brisbane)…very interested on the langka salad recipe looks really good=)
Hope it’s not too late to greet you and your family A VERY Happy New Year MM!
Amazing Spread you have over there but what really caught my eye (even though you have lobster on your repertoire) is the tawilis! tawilis plus rice with soy sauce, vinegar, chilies and calamansi dipping sauce = heaven! you don’t even have to worry about the bones anymore!
I have never really tried Langka salad before but if the ones that are on offer looks good as yours then i won’t have second thoughts eating it! looking forward to the recipe! :)
Nice lobsters but I wish the fishermen would let the small ones go. There’s hardly any meat on them and it assures more lobsters in the future.
Oh la la! Hi Market Man, sa site mo lang po ako nakakakita ng mga foods na di ko pa natitikman at gusto kong matikman. Salamat po sa masipag na pagpopost!
your seafood makes me hungry. can you also share with us
your langka salad recipe? thanks…
Langka salad recipe being written and up soon. Gerry, I agree, I think they should throw the baby lobsters back in…
Tawilis is the bomb!
lobster, lobster! i will always love lobster! always looking out for them in GenSan City.
marketman we also small fish delicious. its so very filipino food we also fresh and from taal. thats my favorite food i like it so much.its so very simple food. but cook its so very hard. marketman is very talented thanks for inviting.
sauted sauted very delicious. i love that food
ang lobster ay pinaka malinamnam at masarap marketman kung sana pwede lang na toroan mo ako niyan dahil ang sarap talaga. at ang simply lang tingnan pero kung lulutuin ang hirap talaga.
those really looks mouthwatering,but using tomato sauce on shrimps will make it taste too sour. instead you may saute it in butter and garlic add a little of pineapple juice,salt and pepper let it simmer until it changes color then finished it off with sweet chili sauce. try it,it’s a sure hit.