Spanish Style Sardines

                 

       

 This morning, I ran out of juice concentrates and my daughter and I were both missing something. I reluctantly gave in to her request to simply buy a packet of powdered juice drink. After I tasted it though, the fake color and taste simply turned us both off. So she made me promise we won't be running low on real and natural juices again.

         So this is how it is? After one has made real, healthy stuff, the body demands the real, and rejects the fake. Good! Now, I can go on and tick off Spanish style sardines from my grocery list too. If it isn't already obvious, I'm on a mission to eliminate most of my store-bought food as I practice new skills for eventual canning and food storage.

         I made a small batch; 15 pieces of sardines, or roughly a pound just to test the waters and the taste so I can tweak it some, if needed.

         I actually walked away from the computer just to eat one piece. Just right spice, salt and savory appeal. Awesome feeling of satisfaction right here. I will be making a huge batch this weekend!

        Let's make these already. 

INGREDIENTS:

500 g or about a pound of Sardines or Milkfish, cleaned, heads and tails removed
1 cup water
1 cup olive oil or corn oil
1 pc. dried bay leaf
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1 small carrot, sliced
1-2 pcs finger chilis, sliced ( in Filipino, it's called Sili Haba or Pansigang)
1 T coarse salt

PROCEDURE:

1. Arrange the fish inside the pressure cooker, sprinkle with salt and add the rest of the ingredients.

2. Cover and pressure cook for 30 minutes on high heat to soften the fish bones. ( Time it after the pressure valve goes off ) Cool. The water will have evaporated mostly and the oil will get a little cloudy due to sediments. It will clear up inside your canning jars after a few hours.

3. Arrange pieces inside jars or bottles. If making a big batch, you may can at this point. Let cool completely and store in a cool dry place. I made two bottles of 7 and 8 pieces each.

Note however that the oil will not carry any saltiness but only the spicyness of the chili. The real taste of the product will come from the fish.

When using a kilo of fish, increase the water to 2 cups but the olive or corn oil remains 1 cup. The rest of the ingredients remain the same except the salt, which must be doubled, or, according to your taste and preference.

Serve hot over rice or bread, or as a topping for pizza or as an ingredient for many Meditteranean dishes.

Please leave a comment below if you've found this article helpful. Thanks for visiting. Blessings!

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