My mother’s special Sunday dish was nilagang dalag (mudfish). The head was always reserved for either my father or sometimes for my eldest brother, Kuya Junior. The buntot (tail) was for Kuya Lito. Yung gitna or katawan was for Kuya Romy and Kuya Ben. Kami ni Aileen we fight for the eggs. We break the eggs’ sacs and let the tiny eggs float in the soup.
Between nilagang dalag and inihaw na dalag, I like inihaw better. Ka sarap-sarap pag isinawsaw sa patis with kalamansi, pwede rin toyo with kalamansi. Sawsawan is Tagalog for dipping sauce.
I don’t remember when I discovered pinangat or pangat, a different way of cooking dalag. My mother never cooked pinangat that’s why I had no idea what pangat was. But ever since I tasted it, eh eto na ang gusto ko, plus inihaw (grilled) pa rin.
The only restaurant Edmund and I go to eat pangat na dalag is Bahay Kawayan. It’s conveniently located on our way to and from Binangonan because it’s in Taytay, between Cainta and Angono. The resto is decent but not fancy and may not appeal to high-end diners.
This I would take home including the tail.
Not all dalag have itlog. Even if the dalag is big, there’s no guarantee that it’ll have eggs. I ordered the biggest dalag they have on stock. I can’t finish the whole thing but I can take it home. it’ll be my breakfast tomorrow.
The itlog looks like a real betlog. Nay! It’s delicious…..
I ordered other dishes to take home.
And hal0-halo while I waited for the bill.
The average cost of dalag ranges from P300 to P500 depending on its weight but because mine was more than one kilo, it reached P810.00 which was the most expensive to date.
April 8, 8:18 am
I actually don’t like the middle part of the dalag’s body.
This was my breakfast.
