Philippine Food Illustrated: deboned

February 10, 2011

dilis (deboned and dried)

Boneless dried dilis sold at the roadside stalls in Brgy. Damortis, Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan.

boneless dilis – /bon-les di-lis/ Tagalog dried fish) [n.] deboned anchovies.

The dilis (anchovies) are decapitated, butterflied, and deboned of their backbone, then soaked in a brine solution, drained, and sundried to become dried boneless dilis.

Best cooked by pan frying briefly on medium heat until the fish turns lightly brown and crisp. Often eaten with a dip of spiced vinegar on the side and lots of steaming freshly cooked rice and a cup of coffee.

The dilis (anchovies) to be deboned and dried must be freshly caught. Otherwise, when dilis is no longer fresh, it would not be of good quality as it would likely be itchy when eaten and emits a foul odor.

It must be noted that Filipinos are fond of calling deboned fish or meat as boneless. It is actually a misnomer to call this fish "boneless" because the fish here actually has bones and what they did to make it boneless was that they deboned it like what they did to this dilis (anchovy) here.

Thus, it should aptly be called deboned dried dilis instead of boneless dried dilis. But "boneless" already got its new meaning and usage and has deeply rooted already in the Pinoy community. Boneless already became part of Philippine English to exactly mean "deboned" and we got stuck with it. Those who got confused, please bear with us. This is our language and we are equally entitled to it.

Boneless dried dilis sold at the roadside stalls in Brgy. Damortis, Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan.

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danggit bulad

danggit bulad – /dáng-git bu-làd/ Cebuano dried fish) [n.] dried rabbitfish \sundried butterflied rabbitfish.

To make a dried danggit, the rabbitfish is first butterflied by making a deep incision cut into the back of the head and running the cuts towards the dorsal side (upper back), and continuing to cut the flesh open towards the caudal fin (tail) and deep across towards the anal fin side, leaving the abdomen side (pelvic and pectoral) uncut and remain attached to serve as the hinged of the butterflied body of the fish.

The process of butterflying a fish is called pakas in Cebuano, and the butterflied fish is called pinakas.

When butterflied and split-opened, the fish is gutted and the fillet is washed clean, soaked in briny water, drained, and then sun-dried or air-dried under the heat of the sun until the fish is parched, stiff, and very dry. Drying a fish is among the ancient method of preserving a catch.

The shelf life of dried danggit will last for several months or up to a year if the dried fish is stored and kept away from moisture.

Dried danggit is commonly cooked by pan frying on medium heat or by grilling or broiling shortly on hot embers as it would easily get burned. It is crisp and crunchy like chicharon when cooked and best served with spiced vinegar as a dip on the side, and lots of steaming freshly cooked rice and a cup of coffee.