Is palate, tivou?

Trying to be tricky. I tricked yours truly, big time. I forgot my password. (Wakaka. Ha,ha, ha.) Is that considered as a meme? Whatever. I'm in my own time.

Koiiakan om Pinaasakan

I'm not serious at all instead perhaps hilarious (koiiakan) in my blogging approach. Still not applying anything new.

Anyway, Pinaasakan is food. It is fish cooked simply with ginger, salt and takob-akob (dried sour fruit, a kind of like a smaller version of a mangosteen. I think). My late mother used to add slices of unripe bambangan (Sabah fruit) to the dish to give it a unique taste. Bless her soul. She was not into chillies.

I'm trying to euphemise my shortcomings. Hilarious. When I was about done going through my version of Pinaasakan only then it hit me that I should have taken a picture. So, no picture yet again.

Pinaasakan with Spices

1kg sardines (fresh)
10 slices of ginger
5 dried tamarind slices( dried takob-akob unavailable in my location)
1/2 tspn mustard seeds
1/2 tspn fennel seeds
1/2 tspn cummin seeds
Turmeric (leaves, powder or root)
7 grains of fenugreek
Some whole white peppers/black peppers
Olive oil
Water

I used a cast iron pan. Line your pan with the ginger slices. Next, arrange the cleaned sardines on the ginger slices in a manner that makes dishing out easy. Apportion the spices between levels of the stacked fish in the pan. You may just distribute all the spices all at once right on top of the stacked fish. Ooops, almost forgot, some salt. I added quite a bit of sea salt to mine.

Use slow heat. Water and oil are optional, really. I don't stint when I'm on a once- in- a- blue moon quest to settle a score with my palate. You will know when it is ready.


Verdict

I loved it with rice and some vegetables. Squeeze some lime onto your Pinaasakan for extra zing and perhaps chilli too. Bird's eye chilli. I had some Peri-peri sauce on hand. So,  I used some. Go on. Try.

My Children's Say 
Fillet the fish, not keen on bones. Or even better use salmon. I'll do my grilled cheese.


What???