This is the ultimate and often sought after “fast food” in our home. Sarangani Bay boneless bangus marinated in soy sauce, garlic, kalamansi and ground black pepper and fried to a crisp. The bangus comes in vacuum-packed frozen packaging that takes less than an hour to defrost and it easily serves three people. Everyone in our household loves this dish, and it’s interesting what section of the fish they enjoy… Mrs. MM loves the stomach, others the crispy edges, or the moist meat, yet others head straight for the crisp skin and a guest recently devoured the entire head of the fish! Served with a spicy vinegar sawsawan or dip, and a side serving of paho or acharra and lots of rice (red rice for me if feeling guilty about how unhealthy this might be) this is the perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner in our home.
I did a post on the fish, bangus, several years ago, and on the pan that we fry it in, the source of much amusement, and the term to be “fishpanned” on marketmanila.com, an insider phrase, but I realized I had never done a post on fried bangus itself! We enjoy fried bangus at least twice a month, and will have the same base fish in a steamed version (much healthier, I think) once or twice a month as well. We find this goes very well with sinigang, or even a hot steaming bowl of monggo or a dish of kalabasa at sitaw sa gata (squash and long beans in coconut cream)… Okay, must eat lunch now. :)
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I like the stomach, too AND the crispy edges; lemoncito and soy sauce.. Sus kalami!!
Bangus is also our “fast food” dish. We also like the smoked version. Paired with garlic rice and fresh tomatoes…the best!!!
the last time i went to the filipino market, i was able to buy frozen cuts of bangus stomach. i like it fried and eaten with
fresh ampalaya salad…
love the stomach and the crispy skin… we siblings used to fight over who gets the stomach, prompting our mom to say: Bangus, sana naging tyan la na lang lahat… lol
I love bangus, especially the boneless tinapang bangus, aside from lechon, bangus is something that is very Filipino, maybe you can do a series on the different ways Filipinos enjoy their bangus?
Fred in the archives are bangus in several kinds of sinigang, smoked or tinapang bangus, steamed bangus, etc.
almost all pinoys know that the belly is the best part of the bangus. pagkalamia gyud!
So yummy! And coincidental that a co-worker is bringing me Rellenong Bangus tomorrow for lunch that he brags is so out of this world. We’ll see …
sarap, where’s the sinangag and sliced tomatoes(with bagoong and mangoes).
Steamed ? If you say so, I’ll try next month when I and my wife comes for a 3-month stay !!! You see, I got whacked for not bringing a pack of this boneless specialty because I was pampered having it every other day !! And to make up with her, I promised her to have it every meal !!! Tingnan ko lang kung hindi siya magsawa !!! basta akin ang tiyan !!!
love saranggani bangus….they come in different cuts….i love their belly cuts for sinigang or ala pobre…….hmmmmm…i think i will eat fried bangus and a steaming bowl of monggo……tans for the suggestion MM!
YUMMY! let’s bog in..
Love bangus belly very much, especially fried. The family also loves to grill it, boneless bangus butterflied then stuffed with ginger, tomatoes and onions, wrap in banana leaves then grill! Yummy :) Or also add the green peppercorn that MM was talking about a few posts ago…
I love bangus almost any style – fried, smoked, paksiw, relleno, sinigang sa bayabas, santol o sampaloc, inihaw – as long as it is boneless! Otherwise, ang hirap kainin eh :)
The bangus belly has caused so much conflict in families.
I love eating bangus especially when I’m in Baguio. I don’t know what it is about bangus there (so cheap!) that makes my mouth water. Maybe it proximity to Dagupan contributes to it, but there’s absolutely nothing like eating daing na bangus complete with freshly made garlic-laden sinangag and acharra or suka with garlic that makes our vacations in Baguio so memorable.
Im glad I married someone who only likes the bangus back so I have the belly all to myself. :)
MrsKookie, you are 1 lucky pastry! hehehe! i on the other hand need to share with my hubby because we both love the bangus belly!
MM, this post made me super hungry! i love fried bangus especially in the morning withe fried rice and sunny side up eggs! yuummm!
my five year old has discovered early on the yummy pleasure of the bangus belly…
“…and a guest recently devoured the entire head of the fish!”
Why so shocked that someone actually went for the head? When fried correctly the head’s texture resembles chicharon and tastes so good! Personally, I go for the head and belly…yum! ;-)
any link to the bangus archives mm?
on topic again,there are 3 bangus dishes that have been memorable for me: dolor’s tinapang bangus, lzm’s fried bangus in tagaytay, tinapang bangus sold at Zapote market during market day (Saturdays),
i love bangus only if it’s boneless :D maraming beses na kasi akong natinik nung bata pa ako (i even swore off eating fish for months coz of that)
but me and my brothers love bangus belly sinigang! :D and tinapang boneless bangus and boneless daing na bangus
Yes bangus, a comfort “fast food” in my kitchen as well. Try this recipe for a slightly different take on the usual marinade and if you don’t like to fry.
2-3 or even 4 med size boneless butterflied bangus
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Place in refrigerator 4-6 hours
Arrange fish on a broiling sheet. Place in a preheated oven, and bake for 5 minutes. Increase heat to
500 degrees F (260 degrees C), turn fish, and broil 5 minutes more.
Serve with a salad of camote tops or sauted kangkong, yumm.
From an All Recipe for salmon but works for bangus as well. Enjoy!
Yes,bangus is so good! I like the Saranggani and Seaking brand. Both vacuum packed.
The marinated ones are good but the plain ones are good too when broiled with tomatoes and onions. Or for other dishes….
MM,disappointed ako sa bangus d2 sa Saudi, may lasang “gilik” (tama ba?. anu bang suggestion ng MM community sa isdang Shari,Sobete o Lapis, di ko din alam kung kilala nyo po ang mga nabanggit.
MM, thanks for the post! God bless.
nakakagutom! Have to go Filipino store now and buy Sarangani
We Filipinos can probably create a 101 ways to cook Bangus.
– Sinigang
– Inihaw
– Daing
– Tinapa
– Paksiw
– Spanish sardines
– Fried
– Sizzling
– Boneless
– Longanisa
etc..etc..etc..
that looks amazing! definitely making me crave good homecooked food. =)
I haven’t had this fried bangus for ages! This post had me craving me for it. So for today, it is comfort food esp. on a rainy day like today. The boys will have monggo soup or liempo sinigang and I shall have Fried Bangus Salad…only way to eat it like you said…fried to a crisp. I usually pan fry it first much like when you blanch french fries first before frying them to a crisp….Then after quick pan fry, I cut them into squares or odd shaped pieces and then CRISP them up in hot oil! ….
, MC and TED
cut off!
MC, Ted: how are your salted eggs? Mine is sooo ready! So for lunch it is Crisp Bangus Salad…with salted eggs, tomatoes, chopped cilantro, red onions and a ripe avocado if I can find one topped with Crisp Bangus Squares!….dressed with just sinamak? and olive oil!
Has anyone tried the Sarangani Bay Bangus Sisig? I have once bought it from an asian store here in Chicago but they stopped carrying it. It was incredibly good, fully cooked and you just have to heat it in the microwave. Yummmmm!
It’s a grey spring day where I am and this is totally homesick-making. I wonder if you can make “daing na bangus” without actually using bangus??? Will the marinade benefit other kinds of fish?
I love the boneless fried daing na bangus – but I buy it cooked from a local Flip resto – Pandan! It’s delish! I’m the only one who eats this in my family – they hate the smell of frying fish! Pandan is closed on Monday – I will order & pick one up for lunch tomorrow! I love the head & the belly & the crispy skin. And just plain suka w bawang & pepper as sawsawan!
MM – I just love your blog/posts. It always leaves me hungry though! And wishing I could fly home on a magic carpet to savor these delights at local sources!
ang sarap naman.
soon as i arrive in manila, first stop is milky way for bangus! i need to eat this once a day while am on holiday. and that tides me over until the next visit. nothing like it!
This is absolutely my favorite. I wouldn’t mind having this everyday. Often, we put chopped onions and tomatoes (with a bit of salt and pepper) on top a few minutes before taking it out of the pan. Other times, it’s thinly sliced ripe (or green) mangoes with some bagoong. Sarap! Tama ka, it’s perfect for munngo or ginataang sitaw at kalabasa.
Belly-lovers would probably be ecstatic to have bangus with my family — none of us eat it! (me, i keep thinking of boiled pork fat when i look at it). When the meal is done, there is always that strip of belly left.
madspartan, I am not a big fan of the belly fat either, but Mrs. MM loves it, so we manage to finish all of the fish… :)
will the Pacman make Sarangani bangus the best pound-for-pound bangus in the world? haha. kidding :D
i have to taste this one. i am from Pangasinan and i usually have Bonoan bangus. best with pinakurat. well, any dish that needs sawsawan is best with pinakurat :)
Bangus is our national fish
I just miss fried bangus! There’s nothing like it here in Kuala Lumpur… Is there any other alternative to bangus that I can marinate in soy sauce, garlic, kalamansi and ground black pepper and fried to a crisp?
Just tried the tinapa version of the Saranggani Bay bangus last weekend — deelish!
i love bangus but it’s a bit funny because i do NOT like the belly part. Actually, nobody likes the belly part at home so it usually ends up in the trash after the meal.
i was able to buy bangus again here in Singapore after 6 months of looking for it. yay!
Try a marinade of Kikkoman and fresh grated ginger, salt and pepper. Steam or microwave. This is good with tilapia too.
MM,your picture of fried daing na bangus made me wish I were home. I just had a 12-course lunch but nothing beats fried marinated boneless daing na bangus with sliced fresh tomatoes and steaming jasmine rice.
I agree that Sarangani Bay boneless daing na bangus is an excellent convenience food as it is accessible in supermarket freezers. When I need lots of this for pasalubong to my U.S.-based sisters, I usually go to the head office’s deli on Pasong Tamo Ext.
mmmmmm…yummy! now i know what i am cooking tomorrow for dinner! ginisang sitaw with kalabasa paired with fried daing na bangus! thanks for the idea!
wow that looks yummy! I really like paksiw na bangus, it’s healthier since there’s no added oil, plus really simple to make. Try it sometime, and since it’s boneless, walang balakid sa pagkain. haha
Try Seaking’s Bangus sisig. It’s very good.
Tok Espino,
I guess “BANGUS” in saudi and other middle eastern countries has similar taste-hindi kanais-nais, nasty and matinik.no alternative cooking for it except fry & sinigang but bangus from philippines is available in any giant supermarkets like spinneys,choitram,carrefour,landmark or citycenter.(but im not sure if you have in saudi)
Shari fish is good as sinampalukan or sweet&sour as its meat is firm and lean besides its cheap and always affordable..
Lapiz fish i believed is good as fried only, skin is tough and elastic but fry it, you will love eating that leathery skin. prepare some lemon with onion and garlic and its fantastic. you can eat it together with cabboush and hommous with shai maghrebi…love that anytime!!!
Hi Kate,
Bangus (Milk Fish) or ikan susu (Malay Name) is always been available in Fair Price/Cold storage and all the wet market here in northern singapore. In fact sa palengke they already know how to do daing (Butterfly) style. It is so cheap about SGD6 only. Other fish that I alway find that are common in the philippines are Galungong, Black Tilapia, sapsap, talakitok, maya-maya, lapu-lapu, espada and isdang dapa. Sometimes I do find alamang, dilis, tamban and spanish sardines.
Gener: Shoukran!
absolutely love fried bangus!
with itlog na maalat, ensaladang green mangoes, onions, tomatoes and spicy alamang…at bagong saing na kanin…then eating it all sa dahon ng saging…..ahahahay!!!!
Mmmm, comfort food indeed! Have to try your marinade when we go on home leave…we use vinegar for the acid, and salt instead of soy sauce.
Memories of Philippine Kitchen recommends substituting trout for bangus. I’ve done it and it’s good. Mackerel also stands up to this marinade :)
Surprise, since I read your post this morning, I craved for fried daing, but since our whole family is on a diet (my parents for health reasons, and me well, to lose weight hehe) we always find ways to substitute anything (may it be to ingredients, method of cooking etc) just to make the dish healthier. So here’s what I did to daing…
Just use your own version of daing na bangus marinade, then brush a pyrex pan lightly with olive oil, then line up the bangus pieces. Brush them again lightly with olive oil, then broil them using the mighty turbo broiler at the highest temperature (475F at ours) for 20minutes, 10 minutes on each side. The timing is not critical though, but that’s what I used a while ago and it turned out ok.
Just remember to serve it immediately afterwards to avoid the bangus drying out. I tried it and I can say that it retains all the bangus goodness without (much) of the oil.
I’m sorry to ask a rather off topic question, but I googled pyrex (from my post above, since we just called pyrex pans “pyrex”, I had to search for a more general/acceptable term), and I saw a “my pyrex pan just exploded” on the search results. I got curious so I read it, and it to led me to the official pyrex website, particulary the “safety and usage instructions”. It says there that I can’t use my pyrex pan under a broiler. Forgive my ignorance but I assume that a Turbo Broiler is considered as a broiler right? I got a little scared since I ALWAYS use a pyrex pan whenever I use the turbo broiler. Maybe someone can shed a light on this? Or share any instance that precipitated a pyrex pan explosion (nice term). Thanks! and be careful at the suggestion I posted earlier about putting your daing in a pyrex under the turbo broiler.
Do you know that I registered for a fish pan for my wedding because of your post :) And I got it too! I just thought it was such a clever and practical thing precisely because it was shaped in particular like a de-boned bangus — which is one of my favorite fishes!
This is definitely a favorite in our household as well…over here it serves only two, hehe :) Tinapang bangus (Sarangani has some also) is another favorite way to have it. I like to bake it with lots of thinly sliced onions tossed in olive oil and pepper on top :)
There’s this place in Salinas Cavite, who sells really good smoked boneless bangus. They export this. A must try MM.
Oh I buy the same brand up here too! Sometimes they go on sale 3-small bangus in a pack and it goes for 2/$5…And speaking of frozen boneless bangus I have to pick up some, it’s been a while since we had it. It’s so quick to cook, and most of the time this is our fallback when we don’t know what to cook, or if I don’t feel like cooking, hehhee,we pair it with steam rice, some chopped tomatoes, onions, slice chillies and patis, oh soo good!
MM, looking at your photos, do u still marimated the bangus (frozen pack)in soy sauce? I shpuld try it next time, to give it more falvour, I just usually salt and pepper it before frying!
The Sarangani Bay Bangus is really a blessing for us here in the States because we get to eat the bangus whether it be any kind but the real nice thing about it is because it is boneless. I like the tinapa and I really fry it to be so crispy that you can eat everything from the head to the tail incuding the bones and the skin and scales. It is what they say “The Bomb.” Slice some tomatoes and add some kalamansi and your on your way to heaven.
yummy, bangus is almost a regular in the house. i dont fail to buy at least two packs of boneless bangus a week. i buy the seaking, saranggani or dagupena brand whichever is available in the grocery. dagupena has different varieties of marinated bangus, but what i like best is their plain bangus belly and we just play up on it at home. because we are avoiding fatty/oily food, we usually prepare it paksiw or adobo – its just paksiw with added toyo. we all dive in for the belly fat. kids wont eat the bony bangus, but woulod head for the table ahead of us if its boneless. sometimes when i bake or grill a bangus, i use home-made vinaigrette as marinade, or just balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. it may come out very dark but the balsamic heightens the sweetish taste of the meat. hay, its 430am at gutom na ako…
I love fried vinegar-garlic marinated bangus. Everytime I fried bangus now, I have to wear long sleeves to protect my from splattering oil. BettyQ: my salted eggs came out excellent and followed your recipe through the letter and thanks for the tip in frying crispier bangus – second frying them. Much appreciate all your tips.
Grabe, this post made me so hungry and craving bangus this late at night. Daing na bangus sprinkled w/ fried garlic on top is tops! And the belly indeed’s the best part. Takaw-kanin nga lang. Definitely not a diet food. :(
I love the bangus belly! We also serve the Sarangani Bay brand here, but there is no soy sauce in the marinade. Only vinegar, garlic, pepper.
Off topic, MM: where did you get your fish pan? I’ve looked everywhere (even Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma and no one has any!)
Betty Q, your lunch/dinner sounds excellent! Can I come over? ;)
Angela: Go to amazon.com and in their search engine select all department and type in fish frying pan or oval frying pan . Lots of selection in there and you can switch screen and go directly to their vendors listed.
Hey Angela..if you are in town, just holler! Fish pan…you can also check e-bay! Once, I found one on e-bay but the guy doesn’t ship outside US…sayang ! It was made out of copper as well!
That bangus looks so good. I haven’t had one in a while so after seeing this post, I quickly rushed to the nearest Filipino store to buy a fully cooked boneless bangus.
I must say though that I’m not that fond of the soft, gelatinous part of the belly but I love everything that is crispy… including the head!
Yum!
I usually don’t eat frozen fish but I think the bangus is the only fish that stays fine even after being frozen for weeks. It can still taste good, even if it is over-marinated, over-fried, etc. You cannot just go wrong with this fish.
that with really good atchara…. yuuuummmm!
Have you tried Bonuan Boneless Bangus, they have marinated, smoked , relleno and shanghai. The best part is they have 2 kinds of Belly the Prime and the Purecut. I like the pure cut because it is the black part of the belly which is really love. Their marinated bangus comes in 3’s thus it feeds a lot more and cost less, just open the pack and fry it.
i just had this for lunch today. served exactly the same way. its a staple in our house
I’m a bit late in reading this blog. Now I’m craving. I tried marinating the bangus in vinegar and garlic.. but it doesn’t taste the way i want it to taste.. like sweet and i little bit vinegary and a little bit garlicky… I’m thinking maybe it was the vinegar I used in marinating it… I used cane vinegar of marca Pina.. any other suggestions?
has anyone tried tochong bangus?
dj and MM–just had a fantastic bangus ala marketman dinner– yummy. Hubby and the kids loved it too! we paired it with monggo with malunggay leaves, and had to cook dried biya and dried small sapsap as the bangus went too fast… good luck!
Ako naman ay isang hamak na mambabangus. Kung kayo ay may balak mag buy and sell (in a large scale and even international market) fresh bangus from the farm let me know. Send me emails at louellaquuina@yahoo.com for more information.
I remember not too long ago…i brought some fried bangus to work to save on lunch and my nosy American coworker came over and start begging me if she can try some. I said yes..at her own risk and surely enough a bone got stuck in her throat, we need to call an ambulance. Thank God for these boneless versions coming out of the old country. They are so convenient, safe and very delicious. My same co worker is now cruising the frozen section of our local Filipino market looking for boneless bangus. I know theyre healthy with all those omega 3 from fish but my gosh…I can eat a whole bandihado of rice…Dios me…
Have you heard of katsawan? It is also marinated the same way and I think taste much better( my opinion) than bangus. You should try it next time. Thanks
this inspired me…fried bangus for dinner tonight…wish I could have a fishpan to cook the lovely fish in.