Preparing Bangus (Milkfish)

• If frozen, thaw gutted, boneless, butterflied and unseasoned milkfish.
• Wash and scale the fish.
• Scrape out the fish meat.
• Be careful not to tear the skin. Keep head, skin and tail intact. Marinate in soy sauce and calamansi or lemon juice. I marinated mine overnight to avoid the fishy smell or taste. Half a day will do.

Stuffing

• Saute onion.
• Add garlic. Cook for couple of minutes or until golden.
• Toss-in tomato. Cook until soft. Crush with cooking utensil.
• Add pork and cook till pale. This is optional but I like it with ground pork.
• Stir-in milkfish. Flake into smaller pieces with utensil while cooking.
• Toss-in carrots. Cook for 2 minutes.
• Toss-in red, green bell pepper and raisins. Cook for 2 minutes.
• Pour in soy sauce. Mix well.
• Stir-in green peas and cook for a minute.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove from heat and let it cool.
• Beat eggs.
• Pour eggs over stuffing and mix well.

Making Rellenong Bangus

• Remove fish from marinate.
• Spread stuffing evenly on one side of fish closest to you. Don’t overstuff or it will be hard to close it.
• Flip the skin without stuffing to close the fish.
• In my video, I use a kitchen twine as an experiment. It is best to sew the opening with a needle and thread.
• Slowly insert a barbecue stick through the mouth into the body of the fish. Be careful not to poke the skin. Without the spine, it will be easier to handle the fish with the stick when frying. Another great tip shared by my cousin.
• Dredge fish in a mixture of cornstarch and flour. Lightly coat all sides to give you an enticing golden crust when fried. Also, this will prevent oil from splattering.
• Heat cooking oil over medium heat.
• Fry the stuffed milkfish for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side.
• When done, transfer fish to a serving plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.
• Once cooled, you may cut the rellenong bangus diagonally.
• Serve with lots of rice, a side of veggie like cucumber or atchara and ketchup.

Note: I made extra stuffing to make lumpia (eggroll) and torta. With all the chopping I did I might as well make 3 menus out of this stuffing!

How to Cook or Bake Rellenong Bangus in Oven

• Once fish is stuffed and sewn, place in a baking sheet and lightly spray or brush both sides with oil.
• Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
• Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
• Before removing from oven, broil each side of the fish for about 2 minutes to brown and crisp the skin.

Note: Cooking in the oven will not yield a crispier skin compared to frying. Also, frying takes away the fishy or stench odor from the fish.