The Bangus or Milkfish is an important seafood in Southeast Asia. The fry are collected from rivers and raised in ponds where they grow very quickly and are then sold either fresh, frozen, canned, or smoked. Because milkfish is notorious for being much bonier than other food fish, deboned milkfish, or “boneless bangus,” has become popular in stores and markets.
Bangus is one of the staples in the Filipino diet. It is almost always a part of every meal, thus, it is considered as the Philippines’ national fish. Bangus occupies an important niche in the country’s economy since it is being exported abroad and is a major dollar earner. One way to add value to bangus is to process it into “soft-boned bangus.”
How to make Soft-Boned Bangus
Materials Needed:
- Bangus (whole)
- 80 Degrees Salometer brine (composed of 267.03 grams of salt per liter of water)
- Pressure cooker
- Smokehouse
- Aluminum foil
Procedure
- Prepare small bangus for processing.
- Clean fish, remove gills, viscera and false kidney. Wash thoroughly.
- Soak in saturated brine solution for 60 to 120 minutes depending on the size of the fish.
- Drain and wrap with aluminum foil.
- Arrange bangus in pressure cooker. Pressure cook at 10 lbs. pressure for 90, 120 and 150 minutes for small, medium and large milkfish respectively.
- Remove aluminum foil and arrange in smoking trays. Smoke for 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool. Then pack in boxes.
- Refrigerate if longer storage is needed.