From the recipe collection
Tinalumbo na Isda
Firm fish enclosed with tomato, ginger, lemongrass, and greens, then cooked in trapped steam until moist and aromatic.
- Prep time
- 25 min
- Cook time
- 35 min
- Yield
- 4
Get everything ready
Ingredients
Tick ingredients as you prepare.
Method
- Season fish with fish sauce and calamansi for 10 minutes under refrigeration.
- Line a heavy lidded pot with overlapping banana leaves to trap the fish juices and protect the bottom from scorching.
- Layer onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, lemongrass, and chilies beneath the fish.
- Add water, fold the leaves over the top, and cover tightly.
- Cook over low heat for 15 minutes without opening.
- Tuck the greens around the nearly cooked fish, close the banana-leaf lining again, and steam gently for another 8–12 minutes.
- Check the thickest fish piece is opaque and flakes at the centre.
- Rest 3 minutes and serve with the concentrated leaf-scented broth.