Ginataan na Tahong

Mussels in Coconut Milk & Turmeric

There are 2 things that are abundant in Philippines and goes together, no not chicken joy & Filipino spaghetti, I’m talking about coconut and shellfish! This dish is so tasty and fresh you would want to lick your bowl clean.

When I was growing up in the Philippines, my mother’s Barrio is 8 minutes away from the river and my father & I with my sister goes to the river for a swim. While my sister and I swam, my father with his fishing gun & goggles would dive in the river looking for cat fish. We probably spent about 4-6 hours swimming and by the time we finished swimming my father would have caught 3/4 catfish and we would head home to get our dinner ready.

We all showered, dried and clothed. I watch my father prepare the catfish clean, I help him chopped the onions and other small ingredients. As I watch him cooked, already tired after a long swim in the river and tummy rumbling I never thought I will be in another country recreating his recipes using mussels. As I couldn’t locally get any catfish, mussels are a lot easier to get hold of and it’s affordable so this was a fantastic alternative for me. You can experiment with other shellfish or fish too! I would normally eat this with rice but you can also eat this with boiled potatoes or chips if you like. Every time I make this I always eat ‘kamayan’ with my hands and no cutlery.

I hope you enjoy this dish, don’t forget to tag me @foodwithmae on your instagram photos and videos!