Tochong Bangus

Posted byNoriePosted inRecipe, SeafoodTags:,
Tochong Bangus Belly

I have almost forgotten this dish that I loved so much.  It is made with pre-fried milkfish or bangus. I don’t have bangus often so I don’t think of this dish either.  And if I had the fish, I could think of a hundred ways to cook it and I would not have enough bangus to cook in all the dishes I like to eat.  The main ingredient of this dish is Tahore. It is made of salted, fermented bean curd or cake packed in jars with chili oil and water that makes the liquid in the jar red. They are available only at Asian markets.  Another ingredient here is the fermented salted black beans called “Taosi” that are also found only at the Asian markets.

  • Fried fish – Bangus (Milkfish) preferred or any kind of fish
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 5 cloves garlic julienned (reserve)
  • ½ medium onion sliced thin, lengthwise
  • 1 small tomato, diced (optional)
  • 2 tsp. scoop of Tahore (1 square)
  • 2 tsp. fermented black beans (Taosi)
  • 2 TBS. vinegar
  • Ginger root – about 2 tsps. of thin strips
  • 2 TBS. cooking oil
  • 3/4 cup water

Fry the fish and set aside.  Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the garlic and ginger root until fragrant.  Add the onions and sauté until they are soft.  Add the tomatoes and sauté for a few seconds crushing and pressing the tomatoes until it’s limp.  Add the julienned garlic and stir a few times.  Add the Tahore and Taosi.  Crush some of the black beans slightly while stirring and add the water and vinegar, mix a little then drop the fish in.  Cover and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Taosi and Tahore

This is a salty and a rich dish that requires a lot of rice to eat it with.  The plate usually has a large heap of rice with just a little of the fish and a little of the sauce, almost just to flavor each spoonful of rice as you eat. The crisp tender garlic and the rest of the vegetables in it are also eaten with the rice. I like to put a small amount of the Tahore from the jar on my plate and scoop a very tiny smudge of it to add to each mouthful of Tocho and rice. You’ll have to cook double the rice when this is on the menu because it takes a lot of rice to eat this.  Before I knew it I had eaten the whole pot of rice and I was so full I could hardly stand up but I was very satisfied.