Relleno Na Bangus

Yesterday, I posted the simplest recipe I can think of for bangus. Today, I like to share with you a special recipe for bangus that our family here in US and Marinduque enjoyed very much. We usually prepare this dish only during special occasion like birthdays and holidays. This is my wife's recipe for Relleno na Bangus. Relleno means stuffed. The hardest and time-consuming part is deboning of the fish. Otherwise the recipe is very simple but not recommended for amateur cooks like me. The ingredients are as follows:

Ingredients

1 medium size bangus (milkfish)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lemon
1 tbsp soy sauce
42.5g raisins*
60g peas
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
* Here in US, sweetened and dried cranberries may be used instead of the raisins


Directions of preparation:

Clean fish by removing scales, removing gills and the insides. Cut part of the tail. Pound the flesh of the fish to loosen it up. Cut open from the backside lengthwise. Scrape out fish meat, being careful not to tear the skin. Set aside. Squeeze half of lemon into the meat and soya sauce. Boil 2 minutes. When cooled, remove fish bone from the meat.

In a skillet, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Add the fish meat, and all remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes. Cool. When cooled, fill the skin with all of the cooked mixture until the fish is formed again. Sew the side to seal the mixture. Fry (used vegetable or olive oil) the fish whole. Slice fish crosswise to serve.