If you left labtingaw out to dry for several hours more under the hot sun (and perhaps seasoned the fish with a bit more salt if you preferred), you would end up with what most folks know as buwad or daing na danggit. This is the most common known form of prepared danggit. It lasts without refrigeration for several months, fries up nicely but stinks up your kitchen… I would guess that not many folks in apartments in the city these days dare to fry this delicacy without fear of dirty looks from neighbors.
On our recent trip to Bogo, the vendor we visited had several kilos of fresh dried danggit in stock, and she had one of her staff fry up several hundred grams so we could taste the product. The danggit were fried in vegetable oil, heated over a medium flame, and cooked just long enough till crisp. A few seconds longer and the daing can turn bitter from overcooking.
The fried dried danggit were SUPERB — small sized fish, cleanly de-boned, with just enough salt to preserve but not mask the flavor of the fish. I find many commercially available daing/buwad are often really over salted. We brought a large cooler with us on the drive north and told the vendor to fill it up with dried danggit — and they managed to fit 10 kilos into the cooler. We sealed the cooler and drove back to the city with our bounty of danggit, done three ways…
13 Responses
bring on the garlic rice and pinakurat!
gutom nako balik. :)
the ugle looks from the silingans marketman would be tungod kay wala nangagda ang galuto ug buwad nga danggit…
khrishyne, many decades ago, in a New York apartment that Mrs. MM’s family had rented for a week or so, we opened all the windows as wide as they would go, put on all the exhaust and fans, and fried some daing so everyone could have a taste of home… not only did we set off the fire alarm, but the smell that wafted into the corridors nearly got them kicked out of the building! As the saying goes, “that’s not DAING, it’s DEAD!” Hahaha.
How long should you fry daing na danggit? I can’t keep track of the many times I managed to over-fry them, resulting in them becoming too bitter to be eaten. :( I’d say I’m a fairly good cook, but these things – along with dried pusit……sigh. I turn my back to set the table or make coffee, and they become treats for the cat that rummages through our trash.
Our main camp just recently set up a Filipino cooking area and daing, bulad, etc can be fried without fear of violating foreign olfactory sensibilities. If ever I’m assigned for kitchen duty I will do a slow cooked Marketmanila adobo given the availability of ingredients we can find.
Buwad was my father’s favorite dish being from Carigara, Leyte where this is plentiful. Everytime we had “nilagang baka”, we would have this on the side with some seriously spiced vinegar. Mangan kit-a!
Pixienixie, a trick I learned in frying things like these which are either thin or small or quick to burn is to constantly turn them around in the oil, just how fishball vendors cook. When they start to get light golden brown, I would grab them with tongs and quickly pull up to inspect. Into the pan they go back for a couple more seconds if needed. Good luck! :)
pixienixie, from what I gathered at the source, they put the fat on medium heat, not searingly hot heat. When the oil is hot, they put in say 12 danggit at a time and with a spider or tongs, move the danggit around OFTEN, sometimes flipping them. The danggit color, but just slightly and they are immediately removed to a plate and allowed to cool and crisp further. I guess it takes practice. And never leave the pan to do other things, it doesn’t take that long at all..
Forget the neighbors in my apartment, I’ll fry them outside my porch so the whole city of SF could smell it fresh from the islands. I tend to wear my work clothes while fry it, that way I smell so cool, everytime I board the SFMuni, I’m guaranteed a seat. It’s like parting the Pasig River. LOL
How yummy! I’m craving for this with rice & fresh tomatoes.
Jdawgg: good idea; I’ll remember to use that when the time comes. :D
“that’s not DAING, it’s DEAD!” –> Too funny!
Hi MM, I came home with stories of the great lunch you served us at your beach house. My wife wanted me to ask you where to buy good Daing na Danggit. Apparently her father goes to Cebu every week as he has a project he is working on there, and he can bring some home. Again thank you very much for the special invite, it was great meeting everyone. It was especially interesting being able to put faces to the names of your readers.
Hi! i just read your message today and it caught my attention because were currently having this project promoting Dried Danggit Deboning Palompon Leyte. We are looking for market regarding this product. The danggit in Cebu is partly come from Palompon. So Whoever interested to taste the Dried Danggit in Palompon please contact me through this No. 09984339704 or stephanieroldan22@yahoo.com for more details.