Hi gang!
I saw a jar of these babies in the store the other day and wondered
what they were for. Google-age only shows where to buy them, not what
to do with them. They're listed as a condiment for Filipino dishes.
Could they be mixed with sambal, kind of 'ikan bilis style'? Do you
just munch 'em straight out of the jar? How are they compared to
anchovies flavor-wise?

monroe(fish curious)

"Monroe, of course..." > wrote in message
...
>
> Hi gang!
> I saw a jar of these babies in the store the other day and wondered
> what they were for. Google-age only shows where to buy them, not what
> to do with them. They're listed as a condiment for Filipino dishes.
> Could they be mixed with sambal, kind of 'ikan bilis style'? Do you
> just munch 'em straight out of the jar? How are they compared to
> anchovies flavor-wise?


You can eat them right from the jar with rice. That would constitute a
meal, much like kim chee and rice is for a Korean. And you can cook with
it -- yard-long beans cooked in coconut milk and flavored with bagoong, for
instance. It is also used as a sauce/dip on the side for dishes like
kari-kari. Filipinos also like to eat fruit, like mangoes, with bagoong. I
don't see anything wrong with mixing it up with a sambal--sounds good. What
is ikan bilis? Can't find it in my books.

Peter

"Peter Dy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Monroe, of course..." > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > Hi gang!
> > I saw a jar of these babies in the store the other day and wondered
> > what they were for. Google-age only shows where to buy them, not what
> > to do with them. They're listed as a condiment for Filipino dishes.
> > Could they be mixed with sambal, kind of 'ikan bilis style'? Do you
> > just munch 'em straight out of the jar? How are they compared to
> > anchovies flavor-wise?


Forgot to reply to the flavor question. Are you talking about Western
anchovies? Bagoong is fermented fish (I guess anchovies are slightly
fermented too, but they seem more "salted" to me), so it has more of a
"transformed" taste, more powerful taste dimensions. I'd give it a try if I
were you--can't be more than $2. I've never had that particular kind of
bagoong though, the padas kind.

Peter

In article >, "Peter Dy"
> wrote:

> Forgot to reply to the flavor question. Are you talking about Western
> anchovies? Bagoong is fermented fish (I guess anchovies are slightly
> fermented too, but they seem more "salted" to me), so it has more of a
> "transformed" taste, more powerful taste dimensions. I'd give it a try if I
> were you--can't be more than $2. I've never had that particular kind of
> bagoong though, the padas kind.

I don't know Western from Eastern anchovies unless the Western ones are
the canned or pasted ones used in caesar salads and pizza.(oh yeah i
almost forgot those that are rolled around capers!)
These ziganids are simply packed in salt (not a dry pack) and it is
amazing how they line up so well in the jar-it's very pretty. I would
guess they <are> fermented, and that the juice would pack a pretty
fish-saucy punch.
'Bagoong padas' is the label info under the line saying 'salted ziganid
fish'.

In article >, "Peter Dy"
> wrote:

> What
> is ikan bilis? Can't find it in my books.

I think ikan bilis simply means 'little fish'. I know it chiefly as
sambal ikan bilis, the anchovy relish served alongside nasi lemak.
The dried anchovies are soaked, fried, mixed with ginger, shallots,
balacan,tamarind (&salt &sugar)and sauteed with onions.
I see the potential for the use of these salt packed ziganids as a
substitution for the dried anchovies. They're about the same size...

"Monroe, of course..." > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "Peter Dy"
> > wrote:
>
> > What
> > is ikan bilis? Can't find it in my books.
>
> I think ikan bilis simply means 'little fish'. I know it chiefly as
> sambal ikan bilis, the anchovy relish served alongside nasi lemak.
> The dried anchovies are soaked, fried, mixed with ginger, shallots,
> balacan,tamarind (&salt &sugar)and sauteed with onions.
> I see the potential for the use of these salt packed ziganids as a
> substitution for the dried anchovies. They're about the same size...


Oh, ok! Malaysian. I was thinking it was something Indonesian. The
bagoong padas is fermented fish in a liquid, so I'm not sure if it would be
a good substitute. Copeland Marks says you can eat ikan bilis "out of hand
with, perhaps, a glass of wine, as I do." I doubt you'd want to do that
with the bagoong. But like I said, I've never had bagoong padas; there's
lots of different kinds of bagoong.

The Philippines does have fried little fish that sound similar to ikan
bilis, but I forgot the name for them. You can get them at Goldilocks
though.

Peter

I've seen Bagoong in jars with a little preserving liquid here as well (UK)
& know them as a Filipino ingredient but have never really tried it. Your
best bet for getting your hands on ikan bilis which are allows sun dried is
to try a Thai, Malaysian or Indonesian supermarket. Apart from that... it's
a long shot but you can try making them yourself if you live in a very hot &
sunny place. We use to as kids, go fishing with nets along the beach & catch
small fish/ikan bilis/silver fish, shrimps etc. which we would use to make a
variety of sun dried ingredients for later on in the year. The tiny silver
fish (2-3cm) would be left to dry in the sun fresh from the sea & when dried
has a natural saltiness from the sea water. You would simply fry it in oil
until golden brown & you would eat it with your nasi lemak. Ikan Bilis are
slightly larger (5-10cm) & prob. known as anchovies in the West. It too is
dried w/o washing & has a slight saltiness to it. The tiny shrimps & prawns
are used for Chincalook, blacan & prawn crackers.

Pedas in Malay means hot/spicy & i don't know if it means the same in
Filipino... if it's any help.

> Copeland Marks says you can eat ikan bilis "out of hand
> with, perhaps, a glass of wine, as I do."

Sun dried ikan bilis fried with sugar & chilli is a reg. bar snack, normally
drunk with locally brewed beer. But from what i hear, silverfish & ikan
bilis are not in abundance as it use to be before in the 60's/70's. Maybe
it's over fished or the local waters are polluted.

DC.




Peter Dy > wrote in message
m...
>
> "Monroe, of course..." > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >, "Peter Dy"
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > What
> > > is ikan bilis? Can't find it in my books.
> >
> > I think ikan bilis simply means 'little fish'. I know it chiefly as
> > sambal ikan bilis, the anchovy relish served alongside nasi lemak.
> > The dried anchovies are soaked, fried, mixed with ginger, shallots,
> > balacan,tamarind (&salt &sugar)and sauteed with onions.
> > I see the potential for the use of these salt packed ziganids as a
> > substitution for the dried anchovies. They're about the same size...
>
>
> Oh, ok! Malaysian. I was thinking it was something Indonesian. The
> bagoong padas is fermented fish in a liquid, so I'm not sure if it would
be
> a good substitute. Copeland Marks says you can eat ikan bilis "out of
hand
> with, perhaps, a glass of wine, as I do." I doubt you'd want to do that
> with the bagoong. But like I said, I've never had bagoong padas; there's
> lots of different kinds of bagoong.
>
> The Philippines does have fried little fish that sound similar to ikan
> bilis, but I forgot the name for them. You can get them at Goldilocks
> though.
>
> Peter
>
>

"DC" > wrote in message
...
> I've seen Bagoong in jars with a little preserving liquid here as well
(UK)
> & know them as a Filipino ingredient but have never really tried it. Your
> best bet for getting your hands on ikan bilis which are allows sun dried
is
> to try a Thai, Malaysian or Indonesian supermarket. Apart from that...
it's
> a long shot but you can try making them yourself if you live in a very hot
&
> sunny place. We use to as kids, go fishing with nets along the beach &
catch
> small fish/ikan bilis/silver fish, shrimps etc. which we would use to make
a
> variety of sun dried ingredients for later on in the year. The tiny silver
> fish (2-3cm) would be left to dry in the sun fresh from the sea & when
dried
> has a natural saltiness from the sea water. You would simply fry it in oil
> until golden brown & you would eat it with your nasi lemak. Ikan Bilis are
> slightly larger (5-10cm) & prob. known as anchovies in the West. It too is
> dried w/o washing & has a slight saltiness to it. The tiny shrimps &
prawns
> are used for Chincalook, blacan & prawn crackers.


I love your stories, DC. Thanks!


> Pedas in Malay means hot/spicy & i don't know if it means the same in
> Filipino... if it's any help.


Looking at a Tagalog dictionary, doesn't seem like it means that in
Filipino. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if it was so in some other of the
many Filipino languages...

Anyway, most bagoong (fermented fish and shrimp) use rather small critters.
The bagoong padas uses these nice, fingure-sized things, so I'm guessing
"padas" refers to that fish.


> > Copeland Marks says you can eat ikan bilis "out of hand
> > with, perhaps, a glass of wine, as I do."
>
> Sun dried ikan bilis fried with sugar & chilli is a reg. bar snack,
normally
> drunk with locally brewed beer. But from what i hear, silverfish & ikan
> bilis are not in abundance as it use to be before in the 60's/70's. Maybe
> it's over fished or the local waters are polluted.


I think I'm born to love the Malaysian cuisine to death, but I have very
little experience in it, unfortunately.... But the more I read about it,
the better it gets. I'll need to head out there sometime.

Peter

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 03:38:40 GMT, "Monroe, of course..."
>
>I think ikan bilis simply means 'little fish'. I know it chiefly as
>sambal ikan bilis, the anchovy relish served alongside nasi lemak.
>The dried anchovies are soaked, fried, mixed with ginger, shallots,
>balacan,tamarind (&salt &sugar)and sauteed with onions.
>I see the potential for the use of these salt packed ziganids as a
>substitution for the dried anchovies. They're about the same size...

Ikan bilis = anchovies


SIAOGU

The husband is the head of the house. The wife is the neck. And the neck turns the head.

'Ikan Bilis' are small, green fish with blue reflections due to a silver stripe. They are very famous in this part of the world.