Ginataang langka with sardines is a upgrade of popular Filipino dish Ginataang langka and is made by fresh jackfruit slices, coconut cream, coconut milk, pepper, fish sauce, sardines, onion, garlic, green chili and pork cube. For a more umami and savoury flavour, try this dish today!

GINATAANG LANGKA WITH SARDINES

Before the pandemic started, our family regularly go to swimming for the last days of the Holy Week. Aside from the ocean, what excites me is my preparation for our boodle fight. Eating is always better when you eat with your family. I used to prepare a lot of dishes for the boodle fight. I make sure to include a variety of dishes to make our boodle fight more enjoyable. Some of the dishes I include are seafood Cajun, fried bagnet, and ensaladang mangga. For my vegetable dish, ginataang langka with sardines is one of my top choices.

Langka or jackfruit is a less prepared and eaten fruit as it comes as a very large fruit with spiky skin. Just like any other fruit, the ripe jackfruit is yellow and sweet and is eaten as it is. When unripe, jackfruit is used more like other vegetables. It has a firm texture when raw and a shred-y texture when cooked. This makes it a good ingredient for a lot of dishes. One of the most popular dishes which uses unripe langka is the ginataan.

The word “ginataan” came from the Tagalog root word “gata” or coconut cream. Ginataang langka is a classic dish made by braising unripe jackfruit in coconut stew. It is a common dish in karinderyas and I bet you have tried this at least once. This dish appears to be creamy white with some bits of green brought by the chopped siling pang-sigang.

I used to prepare ginataang langka as a daily dish. But whenever we go swimming, I add canned spicy sardines to my ginataang langka for the complete ocean vibes. Aside from the added fish flavor, the tomato sauce from the sardines also adds umami to the dish as a whole.

If you want to add a twist to your classic ginataang langka, try this version with the sardines. Make sure to prepare a lot of hot steaming rice because this dish will make you ask for more!

HOW TO MAKE GINATAANG LANGKA WITH SARDINES

Ginataang langka is another ginataan dish which will surely feed your creamy appetite. Making this dish is so simple and will only cost you a few minutes. This will involve easy processes like sautéing and simmering.

The main ingredients in this recipe are the coconut and the jackfruit. For the coconut, we will be using both the first press which is the coconut cream and second press which is the coconut milk. Instead of using ginataan mix, I highly suggest to buy dessicated coconut or the “kinayod na niyog” and press them at your home using a muslin cloth. You can buy some dessicated coconut from coconut vendors in the market and make a request to make them kayod the coconut meat. In this way, you can also get the coconut juice which best makes a fresh buko juice!

There are also vendors who sell pressed coconut cream and milk. To determine which is which, the cream is a thick one and the milk is much thinner and flowy.

For the jackfruit, make sure to get the young and unripe ones. If you have eaten ripe jackfruit before, you’ll notice that they are yellow in color. For the unripe ones, they are white. You can cut the jackfruit at home or simply buy chopped unripe jackfruit from the market to save time.

Start your ginataang langka with sardines by sautéing your aromatics and the chopped jackfruit. Simmer the jackfruit in coconut milk (the second press). Add the rest of the ingredients and seasonings one by one until the jackfruit is soft and tender. The sardines in this recipe is actually optional. I really like adding them to give it an ocean-like vibes since I always prepare this dish for outings and swimmings.

Lastly, add the coconut cream (the first press). Let it simmer for a few minutes and it is now ready to serve. Transfer them to a serving plate with hot rice or in a large banana leaf if you’re planning for a boodle fight. Enjoy!