Taguktok na Tilapia or Picadillo
One of the most requested dishes that I ask Mommy whenever I go home is her Taguktok na Tilapia. My Mom is from Albay,, and it is very common for their food to be cooked in gata or coconut milk plus have lada or chillies in it. This is one of those meals where Tilapia takes center stage.
Tilapia is one of my favorite fish varieties. For me, it's a very versatile fish that can be used in different kinds of dishes. Having family roots particularly in Central and Southern Luzon, where fish ponds propagate, Tilapia is always available.
I used to cook Taguktok in Cebu (not as delicious as my Mom's), but haven't in the past few years because of the scarcity of Tilapia in most Cebu groceries. Our neighborhood supermarket used to sell Tilapia, but after the Covid 19 Pandemic, they stopped their fish inventory. Cebuanos are not a fan of the Tilapia since they have an abundant supply and variety of saltwater fish.
And yes, certain wet markets here in Cebu do sell Tilapia. I've tried it several times in the past. But nowadays, I find it more convenient to buy supplies in grocery stores.
When I was researching Taguktok, I could not find it in any Bicolano recipes. I figured that the term 'Taguktok' is a local term used for the dish in my Mom's hometown of Ligao City, and not exactly used elsewhere. I asked around, searched online, and finally found a similar dish called Picadillo or Sinanglay in other parts of the Bicol region.
The main ingredients or how the fish should be prepared and cooked are described the same way for all three dishes. This dish in my opinion, is actually considered low-maintenance because once you've placed everything in the pot, you just wait for it to be cooked, no poking, no turning it over, maybe a little tasting to ensure flavor.
Ideally, Taguktok should be Tilapia stuffed with onions, garlic, and tomatoes, then wrapped in pechay leaves and cooked over coconut milk. You add siling espada to add a chili kick to the dish. You can also add a little ginger to remove the lansa. But my Mom is not a fan of ginger, so she doesn't add any. Most of the time when we cook this dish, we can't find pechay leaves that are big enough to wrap the tilapia with.
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| Preparing Taguktok na Tilapia |
One main thing that Mommy does not want to compromise when cooking Taguktok is the coconut milk. It has to be the real fresh coconut milk, not the ones sold in cans, especially not the powdered ones. She told me that when they tried the canned one, the flavor and texture were not comparable to when one uses real coconut milk.
Are there other provinces that cook Taguktok or something similar to it?
#TheVisualTraveler #Food #Philippines
#PinoyFood
#Tilapia
#Albay
#Bicol
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