Tilapia in Santol & Coconut Cream (Sinantulan na Tilapia Sa Gata)

Source: Food Magazine, September 2011 Issue

Almost every week, I would hear my father complain to me about how boring the ulam our dear Ate Letty serves us each day. He said that whenever she'd say we'll be having chicken for lunch, he'd know already that its going to be Tinola. If she say were having fish, the dish would either be fried tilapia, sinigang na tilapia, or paksiw na bangus. If it's pork, it will certainly be sinigang na baboy or pork adobo. And if she'd say we're having beef, that will more likely be beef caldereta, beef sinigang or bistek. That basically rotates lang during the week. Monotonous. Boring. It makes meal time less exciting. Appetite spoiler sometimes. But even if I wanted to be in charge of planning the week menu and take over the the kitchen, I simply cant because I have a very young tot to take care of. I have no nanny--- we never had, though I am desperately wanting one now considering how active my toddler is. Anyway, on occassions naman that the trying-hard-master-chef in me is in the mood, I always try to surprise my dad with a simple dish with a different twist--something that is new to him. As he would always say as tail to his rants about the boring ulam, "ok lang naman yung mga simple lang na ulam e basta iba naman ang pagkaluto."


My father if I may say is not really hard to please when it comes to food though I think when it comes to other cuisine aside from the pinoy, western and some chinese food that we order in restaurants, he's not very keen on exploring anymore. Parang his tastebuds are limited na sa nakasanayan na nya. I remember him hating those local foods in Singapore which we had them try that we ended up bringing them to KFC the following day for lunch. hehehe.. Anyway the other day I prepared for him this dish that I came across to while browsing my new Food magazine. I thought he would like the simplicity of it and the blending of coconut cream, santol and chili will be very familiar to him.

• 1/4 cup sinantualan or santol, cooked Bicol Express style (recipe below)
• 2 large tilapia, cleaned
• 2 bunches pechay, blanched in boiling water and oil
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbps bagoong alamang (shrimp paste)
• 2 pcs chili fingers
• 1 siling labuyo (bird's eye chili), sliced
• 1-1/2 cup coconut cream
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Stuff tilapia with santol mixture. Wrap fish with pechay leaves.
2. In a pan, heat oil and saute onion, garlic, and bagoong alamang. Stir for about 3 minutes.
3. Place wrapped tilapia, chili fingers and siling labuyo in the pan.
4. Pour the coconut cream. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the cover then continue to simmer until sauce becomes thick. Serve with steamed rice.

For the Sinantulan:

• 4 pcs santol, peeled and seeds removed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup bagoong alamang, (shrimp paste)
• 2 cups coconut cream
• 2 siling labuyo (bird's eye chili), sliced

1. Grate santol meat, wash and drain.
2. In a bowl, combine grated santol and salt. Set aside.
3. In a pan, heat oil and saute garlic and onion until fragrant.
4. Add the bagoong alamang. Stir mixture for 1 minute.
5. Add the santol and stir fry for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Pour in the coconut cream. Simmer until the mixture becomes thick. Add the siling labuyo. Set aside to cool.

My Verdict: My parents both originated from Bicol so basically being around with people who loves dishes with coconut cream and chili, it's no surprise that I also have a thing for spicy dishes like this (not to mention that i also love shrimp paste!) Just a note though for those who'd have the interest to try this, I find it almost impossible to wrap the fish with the pechay. The leaves aren't big enough to wrap up the whole fish. Or maybe the fact that I didn't blanch it to a boiling water made it more difficult (i just blanched it to hot water from the dispenser). I suggest you follow the instruction of blanching it in boiling water first so at least it would be easier to warp around the fish' body and maybe you could use two leaves to wrap the tail part first and then two more for the fish' upper part. :)


Daddy's verdict: He didn't really jumped for joy but he was happy with what I did. Masarap daw. :)