Sweet and Sour Maya-maya

Sweet and sour maya-maya is a Filipino fish delicacy, where fried maya-maya fish is sautéed in a sauce made by onion, ginger, pepper, carrot, sugar, banana ketchup, vinegar, oyster sauce, pepper, corn starch. This sweet and sour fish will give you new level of enjoyment as the tender flesh of the maya maya with its crispy skin paired with the umami sweet and sour sauce and is well suited with steamed rice. With its very colourful and appealing features, you can try to have this as your star dish during a celebration! Yum!

Sweet and Sour Maya-maya Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces red snapper (maya maya)
• 1 onion (sliced)
• 1 thumb ginger (sliced)
• 1 bell pepper (sliced)
• 1 small carrot (finely sliced)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Brown sugar to taste
• ½ cup banana ketchup
• ½ cup vinegar
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• ¾ cup of water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cornstarch (for dredging)

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the maya maya. Make some slits on the body and then rub with salt and pepper. Do this also to the other side.
2. Dredge the maya maya in cornstarch. Shake off the excess.
3. Heat a lot of oil in a pan. Shallow fry the maya maya for 6 to 8 minutes on both sides or until the skin is crispy. Then, transfer them to a plate.
4. For the sauce, combine the banana ketchup, oyster sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, water and cornstarch. Stir well and set aside.
5. Heat enough oil from the pan. Saute the onions, ginger, carrots and bell peppers for a few minutes. Pour the sauce mixture. Season with some salt and pepper.
6. Stir a bit and let the sauce simmer until thickened.
7. When the sauce is thick, add the fried maya maya back to the pan and gently baste it with the sauce.
8. Transfer the sweet and sour maya maya to a serving plate. Pour more of the sweet and sour sauce and toppings. Enjoy this with some hot steaming rice. Yum!

What is Maya-maya?

If you’ve been strolling to the seafood area of the wet market, spot an reddish orange fish and there’s a large chance that it is maya maya. There are a lot of orange fishes such as the dalagang bukid, lapu lapu and maya-maya but the most famous orange fish worldwide… is Nemo from Finding Nemo. (Just Kidding!)

Maya maya, or red snapper in English, is a medium sized fish which cultivated in freshwater. This fish is known due to its reddish skin, tender and white flesh and delicate taste. This fish is usually made into a variety of dishes including pesang maya maya, escabeche, sinigang, roasted maya maya, sweet and sour, and the simple fried one.

Sweet and Sour Maya-Maya Fish Recipe

It’s maya maya season! There is no actual maya-maya season like when the fruits are in season. My definition of maya maya season is when they go on sale at the wet market. This is usually the time when the vendors simply want their fish to sold out which is why they sell at a much lower price. If you are going to do this hack, just make sure that the fish you are getting are still fresh.

Quick notes on how to say that the fish is still fresh:

• Scales and fins are still intact
• Eyes are clear and not red or yellow
• No foul odor

I love cooking maya maya when I know I got them with my money’s value. Large fishes are actually a bit boring when just plain fried. We have been cooking fried dishes for quite a few days now so let’s make some with a sauce!

One of the best and most famous sauces worldwide is the sweet and sour sauce. There is no definite recipe on how you make the sauce but as long as its sweet and sour and boosts your appetite, then its yummy! Sweet and sour maya maya sounds like a great idea for an upcoming weekend lunch with your family.

Sweet and sour maya maya is also known as escabecheng maya maya. What I love about this dish is that the fish and the sauce are both flexible. You can serve them together or pour the sauce over the fish for more flavors. With the orange red color of the sauce matching the same colors of the fish, the sweet and sour sauce and the maya maya is truly a match!

If you wanna know how to make some sweet and sour maya  maya, read and follow the simple recipe below. Happy cooking!

HOW TO COOK SWEET AND SOUR MAYA MAYA

Preparing this fish version of sweet and sour is super easy. If you have tried making any sweet and sour recipes before, then the following steps would be super familiar to you.

Let’s start with the maya maya. You can usually grab the freshest maya maya from the wet market. Make sure to remove its extra fins and guts. You can skip this step by asking the fish vendor to do this for you. Make some slits on the fish and rub with seasoning for it to cook quicker and absorb more of the flavors from the sauce later.

We all know that all fishes are notorious when it comes to frying them. These fishes are dead but still nanlalaban! The simple hack for that is to dredge them in flour or cornstarch just to prevent that aggressive oil splattering. In this recipe, I used cornstarch to give that skin extra crisp. Fry the maya maya with ease thru this hack.

The most important part of this recipe is the sweet and sour sauce. There are a lot of ready to cook sauces out there but making sauces from scratch is very much fulfilling and adjusted to your taste.

For the sweet and sour sauce, simply combine the sauce ingredients below. Watch out on the cornstarch as we want just the right consistency for the sauce. Saute the aromatics with the sauce and that’s it.

You can simmer the maya maya in the sauce to allow it to absorb flavors or you can serve them separately to keep the fish crispy.

I really love having this dish with a lot of hot steaming rice. Try one today! Yum!

Sweet and Sour Maya maya Recipe

Mga Sangkap:

• 2 piraso ng maya maya
• 1 sibuyas  (hiniwa)
• 1 luya (hiniwa)
• 1 bell pepper (hiniwa)
• 1 maliit na carrot (hiniwa ng maliliit)
• 2 kutsara ng cornstarch
• Asukal na pula
• ½ tasa ng banana ketchup
• ½ tasa ng suka
• 2 kutsara ng oyster sauce
• ¾ tasa ng tubig
• Asin at paminta
• Cornstarch (pang coat)

Paano Lutuin:

1. Linisin at ihanda ang maya maya. Lagyan ng hiwa ang katawan nito at budburan ng asin at paminta. Gawin din ito sa kabilang side.
2. Icoat ang maya maya sa cornstarch. Medyo I-shake para mahulog ang mga sobra.
3. Magpainit ng mantika. Iprito ang maya maya ng 6 – 8 minuto kada side hanggang maging crispy ang balat. Ilipat ito sa lalagyan.
4. Para sa sauce, paghaluin ang banana ketchup, oyster sauce, suka, asukal na pula, tubig, at cornstarch. Haluin ng mabuti at isantabi.
5. Magpainit ng mantika. Igisa ang sibuyas, luya, carrots at bell pepper ng ilang minuto. Ibuhos ang ginawang sauce mixture. Timplahan ito ng asin at paminta.
6. Haluin ito ng konti hanggang lumapot ang sauce.
7. Kapag malapot na ang sauce, ibalik sa kawali ang maya maya at buhus buhusan ito ng sauce.
8. Ilipat ang sweet and sour maya maya sa serving plate. Lagyan ito ng sauce at ng toppings. Ihain ito kasama ng mainit na kanin. Yum!