Ginisang Pechay with Sardines

Ginisang pechay with sardines made by sautéing canned sardines and pechay in a sauce made by tomato, onion, garlic, pepper and salt. Serving ginisang pechay with sardinas is a hack if you want to feed your kids an economical but nutritious at the same time. Follow our recipe to make this scrumptious dish in your home for your family and relatives.

GINISANG PECHAY WITH SARDINAS RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches of pechay tagalog
• 2 cans sardines
• 1 large tomato (chopped)
• 1 medium red onion (chopped)
• 5 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the pechay. Remove the ends and then chop into smaller pieces. Separate the stems and the leaves. Transfer them to a container and set aside.
2. Heat some oil in a pan. Add the onions and garlic and saute them for a few minutes until aromatic. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for a few minutes. Gently crush them while sauteing to soften and release the juice.
3. Add the sardines including the sauce. You may crush the sardines lightly if you like.
4. Once the sauce starts to boil, add the chopped stems of the pechay tagalog. You may add some water to thin out the sauce a little. Cover the pan and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the pechay leaves and mix gently. Add around 1/4 cup of water to cook the pechay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Do a last stir before turning the heat off.
6. Transfer the ginisang pechay with sardinas to a serving plate. Enjoy this with a lot of hot steaming rice. Yum!

WHAT IS A SARDINE?

The word sardines is usually associated with the canned sardines we usually see from the grocery. But did you know that sardine is a type of small fish which grows in saltwaters. If you’re a batang 90’s, you’ll definitely remember the sardines commercial which quickly shows how the fishes are caught and canned in the same day!

Sardines are rarely sold in the market so we usually can enjoy them in their canned state. They can be eaten straight out of the can (but recommended to heat a little first), sauteed version and sometimes, we add it with veggies and noodles. Most of the time, we used tomato-based canned sardines as the sauce for our spaghetti. Yum!

WHAT IS PECHAY?

Pechay is one of the most popular vegetables in the country. The two types of this veggie is the pechay baguio (more commonly known as napa cabbage; used in kimchi) and the pechay tagalog which appears in bunches. The pechay tagalog also comes in other names such as snow cabbage and chinese white cabbage.

Pechay tagalog is the veggie which will be used in this dish. If you often visit the market, you can easily spot a pechay. You may somehow confuse them with mustard leaves but remember that the pechay has white stalk while the mustard leaves has green ones.

Pechay is usually used in different dishes like sinigang, nilaga, and mixed veggies. For this dish, let me introduce a pechay dish where this vegetable gets the spotlight it deserves.

GINISANG PECHAY WITH SARDINAS

Since today is extra tipid day, let’s have a dish which is super economical but nutritious. Among the food products, canned food items are some of the cheapest ones. Most of the time, people associate the canned goods with being unhealthy because it is processed and preserved using salt. While them having too much sodium is true, this offers us the opportunity to be creative with canned goods and making them nutritious? And what do we do when we want something extra healthy? We add veggies!

It’s pechay harvesting season again! Up to this date, I have grown a lot of veggies in my garden which makes my meals extra budget friendly. With  just a few extra efforts of taking care of my veggies, eating them and having nutrition from them feels like they paying me back my efforts of taking care of them.

Pechay is one of the most versatile vegetables. Since it is green and leafy, it is also rich in iron and fiber aside from all the vitamins and minerals. Adding them to a dish also expands the dish. In this recipe, we will be using canned sardines with pechay. You will be super surprised how 2 cans of sardines can already feed a whole family!

If you wanna know how to make ginisang pechay with sardinas, read and follow the steps below. Happy cooking!

HOW TO MAKE GINISANG PECHAY WITH SARDINAS

Making this recipe is super easy given that we are using canned sardines. If you have tried making ginisang sardines in the past, then this recipe will be super easy for you.

Before anything else, let’s prepare the pechay. It’s our pechay harvesting season again so I got mine from our backyard. You can simply buy from the market if you like. A bunch of it is very cheap. (1 bunch usually 10 pesos only). Make sure to check the leaves and do not get those with a lot of holes.

Slice the ends of the pechay. When slicing, I hold the bunch of pechay and then chop the stalks from the leaves. Take note that the stalks are thicker compared to the leaves. Which means that it will take a longer cooking time. Separating the leaves and the stalks makes it easier to put in the pan later.

Once the pechay is ready, let’s go over our stove and start with dish. Simply saute the aromatics and then add the canned sardines including the tomato sauce. If your chosen canned fish has no tomato sauce, just make sure to add a lot of fresh tomatoes. Since I will also be serving this dish to my niece and nephew, I lightly crushed the sardines so they can easily grab the fish later. Then, let’s add the pechay. Add the stalks first so they would cook longer. Then, the leaves.

The secret in removing the “mapakla” taste of the pechay is to overcook it a bit until super soft and almost wilted. (Unless you want a crunchy pechay!) Do a last addition of the seasonings before serving. Be careful with adding salt since the canned sardines is already salty.

I really love my ginisang pechay with sardines on top of my rice. Yum!

COOKING TIPS

• Aside from sardines in tomato sauce, you can also try this recipe using other canned fish products!
• You can also crack a piece of egg in the middle to make it look like a sardines and veggie sisig.

Paano magluto ng Ginisang Pechay na May Sardinas

Mga Sangkap:

• 2 bugkos ng pechay tagalog
• 2 lata ng sardinas
• 1 malaking kamatis (hiniwa)
• 1 sibuyas na pula (hiniwa)
• 5 butil ng bawang (hiniwa)
• 1/2 kutsaritang paminta
• 1/2 kutsaritang asin
• 1/4 tasang tubig

Paano Lutuin:

1. Hugasan at ihanda ang pechay. Alisin ang mga dulo nito at hiwain sa maliliit na piraso. Pagbukudin ng lalagyan ang tangkay at mga dahon nito. Isantabi.
2. Magpainit ng mantika. Ilagay ang mga sibuyas at bawang at igisa ng ilang minuto. Sunod na ilagay ang mga kamatis. Medyo durugin ito habang ginigisa para lumabas ang juice nito.
3. Ilagay ang sardinas kasama ang sabaw nito. Pwede mong durugin ng  konti ang isda kung gusto mo.
4. Kapag kumukulo na ang sabaw, ilagay ang hiniwang mga tangkay ng pechay. Dagdagan ng tubig para magkaron ng extra sabaw. Takpan ang kawali at hayaan itong maluto ng 2 minuto.
5. Sunod na ilagay ang mga dahon ng pechay at haluin ng dahan dahan. Maglagay ng 1/4 tasa ng tubig para maluto ang mga dahon. Timplahan ito ng asin at paminta. Haluin ito ng konti bago patayin ang apoy.
6. Ilipat ang ginisang pechay with sardinas sa serving plate. Enjoyin ito kasama ng maraming mainit na kanin. Yum!