Okay, so fried fish doesn’t exactly meet the criteria for diet food. But compared with what I would have likely been eating for lunch before my diet this is an improvement. 
A market foray yesterday morning yielded a bottle of burong mangga and good looking mustasa or mustard greens…the making of two nice complementary dishes or relishes for a nicely fried fresh fish. So off to the market the cook went to pick up a couple of talakitoks (jacks) and this was our lunch yesterday… On the first platter is a fried talakitok with a side relish of burong mangga and some brown rice. On the second platter, a fried talakitok with a bracing side salad of mustasa greens with a bagoong (shrimp paste) and kalamansi (calamondin) dressing.
A more typical lunch for me might have been a whole small talakitok (say 350-400 grams) 
fried and with a sweet and sour sauce. Paired with a cup or two of boiled white rice and perhaps a vegetable with some pork in it. Definitely add a sweet dessert. Instead, I had this pared down meal without the sugar in the sauce, less than half the rice and the more healthy brown variety and just a little bit of burong mangga and the mustasa salad. Just half a pear for dessert. Yum is all I can say. I love the incredibly sharp notes of the salad and of course, the saltiness/sweetness of the pickled mango. Oh, I also had some wickedly spicy chili vinegar as my sawsawan…
11 Responses
there was one time I ate too much mustasa salad and my tummy really ached. . . as in soobra, I can’t sleep. . .
what a yummy lunch!
MM, looks really good. Nakakagutom tingnan but even without the pics, the way you describe your food is enough to make people salivate. You have a way with words.
? Your pickled mango, do they stay crispy.
tulo laway tuloy ako…sige na nga!
i had mustard greens for the first time yesterday morning. I had it at a local vegetarian restaurant, Sian Tian (Burgos St., Bacolod City) This is where I get my fix of non meat surprises. Gluten, tofu, etc.
Food that imitates meat are good to eat. there’s that rhyme again. grrrr
Naz, the pickled mango does get soft or limp, it doesn’t stay crisp. Lee, how about “real meat is hard to beat”…heeheehee.
ohhh, love that mustard greens salad. I’ve been contemplating making the burong mustasa but never even started…
Hello Marketman!
You make fried fish sound delicious. I usually don’t get too ecstatic with fried fish – I tend to eat it “because it’s there”. Thanks for the ideas – with the proper sidings, fried fish will no longer be bland and boring.
Burong mustasa, Mita – that’s another good thing! Have you featured that one, MM? I don’t know if our kusinera can still recall the procedure – I vaguely remember it involves fermenting the mustasa leaves in water used in rice washings.
And finally, a recipe request – have you featured mango chutney, MM? Keep the posts coming along!
Ronx, I don’t think I have done a mango chutney, will have to ask my sister for a recipe… I have never made burong mustasa though many readers have mentioned it in the past…
i prefer my mustasa dipped in balaw-balaw (balo-balo) — a nasty concoction of fermented rice favored by the Kapampangan and brave souls. my favorite version is fermented with fresh, live (lumulukso) shrimp, but it can also be made with mudfish (dalag). i’m also a great believer in tearing mustard greens rather than chopping them up — try it, they always taste better this way LOL
I get the asian kind of mustard greens from a Vietnamese store, the mustard greens US groceries offer have bigger leaf and have strong peppery taste, a bit too much if you are making a salad. They are really better off cooked and tastes really good when cooked with bacon or ham.
The asian variety however is just perfect for mustasa salads, I make mine with balsamic vinegar, cooked shrimp paste and add some sliced tomatoes. The balsamic vinegar gives the salad a sweet taste, and is just perfect for the salty bagoong.
Atwe, I will eat balo-balo only if it is is sauteed in lots of tomato, almost that it looks like it has a tomatoe sauce in it. Yes, it is good with mustasa, or any steamed/boiled local veggies like ampalaya and talong, and eaten with fried fish or daing na bangus or tinapa. It’s a perfect excuse to eat with your hands. :)
Hi MM,
Did u just add bagoogn and calamansi to the greens?