Ginataang mackerel

Earlier this week, I was inspired by a photo of ginataan made with canned fish on my social media feed. Ginataan is a category of dishes that I learnt about through the writing of Plantasia, and it is one that lends itself to tremendous versatility and creativity in the kitchen. The term refers to anything that is cooked with coconut milk and can apply to both sweet or savoury preparations.

There are two ginataan recipes in Plantasia - ginataang munggo* (savoury coconut milk and mung bean stew), and ginataang bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls and root vegetables simmered in coconut milk). The first time I made the former, it was with some guidance from a Filipino contributor in the book. I was surprised at how a vegan stew could pack so much flavour. Something about the combination of coconut milk and gently cooked onions, garlic, ginger, and chilli made the dish so hearty, rich, and satisfying.

*In tagalog, ‘ng’ is used to link two words together. For example, if ginataan is made with mung beans or munggo, it is referred to as ginataang munggo.

An ingredient that we’ve been picking up from the supermarket is smoked mackerel. It’s such a versatile ingredient that can be used in anything from ochazuke to kimbap, and it’s great for days when I want to put a quick snack together, like an open-face sandwich. I typically remove the skin, slipping a knife underneath before pulling it off with my fingers. Separating the meat from the bones isn’t too tedious either - it flakes right off.

The actual cooking begins with gently sweating chopped onion, garlic, ginger, and bird’s eye chillies. It looks like a lot of aromatics, but I’ve found it necessary to build a good foundation of flavour.

I had some sweet potatoes on hand and so I cubed that and added it to the wok, and covered it with water. I’ve seen other ginataan recipes that use cubed pumpkin and the bright orange does make the dish look more appealing. Cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, but still present some resistance to the fork:

Add coconut milk (I used cartoned), the fish, and some fish sauce for seasoning. Cook uncovered until the coconut milk reduces slightly, about 5 minutes. The fish disintegrates a little during the simmering, but I don’t mind because it infuses the gravy with its smokiness. If you want the fish to remain chunky and be more intense on its own, you can add it into the pot in the next step.

Add a few generous handfuls of baby spinach and simmer briefly for it to wilt. Crack over some black pepper and serve with rice:

It’s been raining and chilly the past couple of days, so it was perfect weather for this. You get heat from the bird’s eye chillies, but the minced ginger warms the belly too. This is a dish you can truly make your own - young jackfruit, chicken, squash and beans… with this flavour combination, the possibilities are truly endless. And while you can make this with regular canned fish like sardines or mackerel, smoked fish adds much more depth.

Ginataang mackerel
Serves 2

3 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 fat cloves of garlic, minced 
1 thumb-length piece of ginger, minced
3 bird’s eye chillies, minced
½ a large sweet potato, cubed
1 mugful of water 
1 tbsp vinegar
3 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
250ml coconut milk
1 whole smoked mackerel, flaked, bones and skin discarded
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
Freshly cracked black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chillies. Sweat gently on medium heat until the onion turns translucent. 

2. Add the sweet potatoes, water, vinegar, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

3. When you can pierce through the sweet potatoes with a fork but they are not completely fork-tender, add the coconut milk and the flaked mackerel. Cook for 5 minutes, uncovered, or until the sweet potatoes are completely tender and the coconut milk has reduced slightly. Taste and correct seasoning with more fish sauce, if necessary.

4. Add the spinach and boil for a minute, uncovered, or until the spinach has wilted into the gravy. Turn off the heat, generously crack over black pepper and serve with rice.