Spanish-style Sardines Bangus in Olive Oil

Spanish Style Sardine bangus is a Filipino fish dish, is made by cooking milk fish in oilive oil along with various spices, in pressure cooker. This Bungus sardines can be stored in jars up to a month, and can be used as ready to eat ulam at home. Best paired with a hot steaming rice. Yum!

Spanish Sardine Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ kilo milkfish
• 3 cups of olive oil (or corn/coconut oil)
• 2 medium carrots
• ½ cup of green olives
• ¼ cup pickles
• ⅓ cup dried bay leaves
• 1 tablespoons of salt
• 2 bulbs of garlic
• ½ cup of water
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce (optional)
• 6 to 8 pieces of red chilies
• 1 ½ liters of water

Directions:

1. Prepare and wash the bangus. Remove the fins, and innards. Cut them into serving portions.
2. In a large bowl, pour the water and then add ½ cup of salt and then the bangus slices. Let them soak in the brine for 30 minutes.
3. Peel the carrots and slice them. You can carve them however you like.
4. Prepare the pressure cooker. Add a layer of the sliced carrots at the bottom and then add the bay leaves, garlic and whole peppercorns. Add a layer of the bangus. Create a new layer of the seasonings before adding another layer of bangus. Add the green olives, pickles, and red chilies. You may also add some oyster sauce (optional step). Add 1 ½ tablespoons of salt.
5. Pour the olive oil until everything is covered in oil. Lastly, add half a cup of water.
6. Cover the pressure cooker and let them cook. Once it starts to whistle, lower the heat setting. Allow it to cook for an hour using low heat.
7. After an hour, remove the pressure first before removing the cover.
8. Transfer the spanish style bangus into jars, and some to a plate with a lot of hot steaming rice. Yum!

Spanish-Style-Sardine-bangus Through Photos

What Is MilkFish

THE CONCEPT OF PRESSURE COOKERS

The pressure cooker will be our weapon for today’s video, so you must learn something new about it. A pressure cooker is a specialized pot, where there is a build up of pressure inside. This extra pressure raises the heat inside the pot, making the dish you are cooking softer (especially with meat) and makes all the flavors circulating around the pot by using pressure to force liquid into the food. 

For a quick history, the pressure cooker was initially called the “Digester” by its inventor, Denis Papin, who would like to incorporate physics, especially the concept of pressure, into cooking. It took many years before this equipment was considered safe.

Up to this day, a pressure cooker is only safe when one knows how to use it. This pot has a specialized lid where you can release the pressure when the cooking is done. When the pressure has not been released, the cooker will burst because of the high pressure inside.

Before pressure cookers, the concept of canning already uses the concept of pressure when cooking, but this is only done commercially. This is also how your favorite canned sardines are made. 

SPANISH STYLE BANGUS

I rarely recommend to oily foods to my viewers — you know that. Every time I fry something, I transfer them to a strainer or paper towel to drain excess oil. I am not demonizing oil, I’m not an oil hater, it’s just fried dishes must not be soggy and excess oil in food can clog the arteries. But just this time.. I would really recommend this oily dish to you!

Spanish style sardines is one of my favorites. When you see one in jars, you automatically consider it a delicacy. What I love about this dish is that the spiced oil really made an impact to my rice. When I read on how they are made, I took it as a sign and bought a pressure cooker.

Another amazing thing about this dish is that it can be stored for a long time. The whole canning process, done in the whole pressure cooker, kills and inactivates enzymes that can spoil the food. Moreover, we know that these bacteria need water and moisture to live, and they cannot do those to an oil-immersed dish! (We all know that water and oil do not mix)

This dish is a life saver for surprise guests. Since they can be stored, I simply got a jar and serve it. From the day I made them up to the day I consumed the last jar, the quality of this dish and all the flavors never change. Still the best!

If you wanna know how to make some easy spanish style bangus at the comfort of your homes, read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!

How To Make Bangus Sardines

Making some spanish style bangus is actually much easier than you have imagined. But of course, you will be needing a pressure cooker for this dish. You can actually do this with a regular pot, but that would be too long to cook and it is not practical.

Prepare your pressure cooker and let’s add the ingredients one by one. Slice the bangus into serving portions. For the carrots, I chose to decorate them into small flowers. If you would like to simply cut them, then that would still be good. Simply layer them well so that the flavors will be flowing throughout the cooker later. Lastly, pour a lot of olive oil until it covers all the fish. You may add some water to help cook the fish.

Close the lid of pressure cooker properly then start letting them cook using low heat. Now, just like I did in the past, did you think that the bangus will, sort of, become deep fried after cooking? That’s an innocent thought, by the way! I also didn’t believe it not until I made my first spanish style bangus at home. The resulting bangus is way way better than expected! The bangus is very soft and is highly seasoned. And not deep fried!

Perform the safety measures before opening the lid of the pressure cooker. Always remember, it can blow up when not properly prepared! (Don’t let your lovely spanish style bangus will come to a waste.) 

What I love about the spanish style bangus is that everything in it is very tasteful. The olive oil, which used to have a very mild taste, now has a strong and spicy flavor. This has tempted me to put a lot of rice in my bowl! And most especially, what I love about this dish is that the bangus bones were suddenly super soft! The struggle on removing the fish bones is not a problem anymore! As far as we know it, the bangus is very matinik!

Drizzle a small amount of the oil and then have your bangus with some carrots and olives in your bowl. Also best when you have some sliced cucumbers to help you with the heat. Yum!

Spanish-style Sardines Bangus Recipe (TAGALOG)

Mga Sangkap:

• 1 ½ kilo ng bangus
• 3 tasa ng olive oil (orcorn/coconut oil)
• 2 carrots
• ½ tasa ng green olives
• ¼ tasa ng pickles
• ⅓ tasa ng dahon ng laurel
• 1 kutsara ng asin
• 2 buong bawang (pag hiwahiwalayin ang mga butil)
• ½ tasa ng tubig
• 2 kutsara ng oyster sauce (optional)
• 6 – 8 piraso ng siling labuyo
• 1 ½ litro ng tubig

Paano Lutuin:

1. Ihanda ang mga bangus.  Tanggalin ang mga palikpik at lamang loob nito. Hiwain ng serving portions.
2. Sa malaking bowl, paghaluin ang tubig at ½ tasa ng asin saka ilagay ang mga bangus slices. Hayaan itong nakalubog sa brine ng 30 minuto.
3. Balatan ang mga carrots at hiwain sa shape na gusto mo.
4. Ihanda ang pressure cooker. Mag gawa ng isang layer ng carrots, dahon ng laurel, bawang at pamintang buo. Sunod na layer ang mga hiwa ng bangus. Maglagay ulit ng isang layer ng mga seasonings bago ilagay ang mga natitirang bangus. Huling ilagay ang green olives, pickles at siling labuyo. Pwede ring maglagay ng oyster sauce (optional). Budburan ito ng 1 ½ kutsara ng asin.
5. Lagyan ang pressure cooker ng olive oil hanggang lumubog ang mga bangus. Lagyan rin ito ng 1 tasa ng tubig.
6. Takpan ang pressure cooker at lutuin ito. Kapag nagwhistle na, babaan ang apoy. Hayaan itong maluto ng 1 oras gamit ang mahinang apoy.
7. Pagkatapos ng 1 oras, pasingawin muna ang pressure bago buksan ang takip nito.
8. Ilipat ang spanish style bangus sa mga jars at sa pinggan na may kasamang mainit na kanin. Yum!