The Philippine Online Chronicles

At a forum of presidentiables held last month at the University of the Philippines and mounted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer,  the galunggong hugged the spotlight once again when senator and presidentiable Jamby Madrigal bungled when asked if she knew how much the fish costs in the market.

The question was supposed to trap the millionairess-senator into an implicit admission she was far removed from the poor whose votes she was courting and whose plight she is mandated to improve if she wins. (The senator more or less smoothly eluded the trap by replying she wouldn’t know how much because she was a vegetarian – someone who didn’t eat animal meat AND fish.)

Galunggong or GG (Mackerel Scad) is popularly known as the poor man’s fish because of its relatively low price and abundant supply. Last time I looked, a kilo of galunggong (about ten to twelve pieces) cost P100 to P120 (around USD4.30), depending on its size and place of purchase. A kilo is just about enough to feed a family of four for two meals.

The market price of GG has always been monitored by several government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). It is to be assumed Madrigal has, soon after that forum, been avidly monitoring it, too.

Food – basic commodities like rice, sugar, sardines, and cooking oil – is a most tangible indicator of a country’s economic status. But at the time of Tita Cory’s presidency, there is none more indicative of this than the galunggong. It became at the time a measure of the low-income Pinoy’s purchasing power. ‘ If poor families could afford galunggong, then it means the economy’s healthy, not screwed. And families will have enough money left to buy komiks or watch a Carlo Caparas movie.’ Little wonder that galunggong became one of the commodities to be put under price control in the late 1980s. This means the price of GG was supervised and did not necessarily follow the rule of supply and demand.

There is this fisherman’s tale twice told about the galunggong. It is claimed that unlike most other fish, the galunggong swims willingly into the net and that once caught, it does not even try to put up a fight. It stays caught. For this reason it has earned the sobriquet ‘gunggong galunggong’ -- so unlike the typical Pinoy politician (and Pinoy macho men) whose mantra may as well be ‘huli na, lumulusot pa.’

But justice must be given to the galunggong! No more should it be labelled as a lowly or stupid fish because it is actually one of our country’s best kept culinary secrets!

Growing up, I never really thought of GG as a poor man’s fish mainly because almost every family, regardless of income level, serves this staple on their dinner table. Most everyone I know craves it at some time or another. It is actually a very likeable, flavorful, and fleshy fish. Personally, I like my GG fried with lots of tomatoes then smothered in patis (fish sauce) or bagoong (shrimp paste). With a serving of steaming rice – it solves my lunch nicely, with double thumbs up . I also like it with ginisang gulay (sautéed vegetables) or with ginisang munggo (mung beans soup). It is great whether fried crisp to the bone or simmered in some broth or sauce.

There are many other ways to enjoy GG. All you need is a little sense of adventure and creativity or, in my case, a  tita who is a GG cooking expert.

The adventure of cooking galunggong starts with an early morning trip to the palengke (market). The key here is to make sure that you buy only the freshest catch of the day. According to my Tita, who spends half of her waking hours in the palengke to shop or simply to look around, the best and freshest galunggong should have a shiny skin texture and eyes that are crystal clear rather than bloody red. You can always ask the manang tindera to clean the fish for you. But if you would rather clean your own fish, then go ahead! After the fish gets cleaned, it is time to decide how to cook it.

From my limited personal experience, there are only four ways to cook galunggong – fried, sarsiado, smoked (tinapa), or dried (daing). Smiling indulgently at me, my tita disagreed, rattling off other ways to cook it: ginataang galunggong (GG with coconut milk), sinigang na galunggong (GG with tamarind broth and vegetables), sinaing na galunggong (GG wrapped in banana leaves and boiled in kamias or ginger lily), paksiw na galunggong (GG boiled with fresh tomatoes, onions, water, and vinegar), and escabecheng galunggong.

Over the internet , I found more interesting and mouth-watering ways to serve galunggong. One of this is sweet and sour bola-bola style. The modern Filipino restaurant Sentro is known for its unique way of cooking galunggong. Drizzled with garlic oil, galunggong is served as fillet in gourmet style. Although a bit pricey, the experience of eating galunggong at Sentro is not only refreshing and enjoyable but also instructive. It makes one wonder what magic a French chef could wield with galunggong.

Clearly the galunggong has evolved into something much more than the gunggong galunggong or poor man’s fish or economic indicator it has been touted to be.

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