''Sarsiado'' (also sometimes spelled as ''sarciado'') is a fish dish from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

which features

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es and eggs. The name ''sarsiado'' in the

Tagalog language Tagalog (, ; ; '' Baybayin'': ) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines, and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, ...

means "cooked with a thick sauce". The name is derived from the Filipino word '' sarsa'' (referring to a thick sauce) which in turn is from the Spanish word ''

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

'', which means "sauce".

Origin and preparation

''Sarsiado'' is a delicacy from the Philippines which features a sauce predominantly composed of tomatoes and eggs. The ''bangus'' (or

milkfish The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is the sole living species in the family Chanidae. However, there are at least five extinct genera from the Cretaceous. The repeating scientific name ( tautonym) is from Greek ( ‘mouth’). The species has man ...

) is cleaned by removing the gills and other parts, rubbed with salt and then washed afterwards to remove blood and other scum. It is then fried (usually shallow-fried, but deep-fried is not unheard-of) in a high temperature until the fish is cooked. The ''sarsa'' is then cooked in a separate saucepan - garlic, onions, and tomatoes are sauteed - in that order until cooked (with water sometimes added to maintain some moisture), and then beaten eggs are added and cooked to a rare done-ness. A souring element as well as a sweetening one may be added to the ''sarsa''. Other fishes such as

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

are also used in lieu of milkfish. The sauce features a guisado - a sautee flavor combination of garlic, onion and tomatoes (although tomatoes are sometimes omitted, depending on the dish). The dish is essentially a combination of two separate dishes: ''piniritong isda'' (fried fish), and tomato-scrambled eggs (for the ''sarsa''), similar to the Chinese's stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs. A similar dish is the Philippine version of the

escabeche __NOTOC__ Escabeche is the name for a number of dishes in Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino and Latin American cuisines, consisting of marinated fish, meat or vegetables, cooked or pickled in an acidic sauce (usually with vinegar), and colored w ...

which also has fried fish topped with a sauce.

References

{{Filipino food Philippine stews Guamanian cuisine Fish dishes Tomato dishes Egg dishes

Origin and preparation

See also

References