Recipe | Sinanglay

When sister and I attended the Yummy Magazine Cooking Demo, we were given copies of the recipes of the dishes cooked, and Knorr also gave recipe sheets of dishes cooked with Knorr's newest products - the Gata Mix (instant coconut milk mix) and the All-in-One + Meaty seasoning. This week, I am trying to build the habit of incorporating vegetables in my daily meal, I decided to cook this recipe for dinner last night.

Sinanglay (Tilapia Fillets Wrapped in Bok Choy)

{recipe from: Knorr | Serves 5}

Ingredients:

• 6 pieces tilapia fillets
• 3 tablespoons calamansi juice
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bunches pechay (bok choy)
• 3 medium sized tomatoes, deseeded and minced
• 2 pieces medium sized onions, minced
• 1 pack Knorr Ginataang Gulay (Sitaw at Kalabasa) complete recipe mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 stalk lemongrass (white part only)
• 2 pieces chili fingers

How to Cook

• Season the tilapia fillets with calamansi juice, salt and pepper.
• Wash the pechay leaves and dry.
• Carefully wrap the fish with tomatoes and onions in pechay leaves. Secure tightly using a strand of lemongrass leaf.
• In a medium sized pot, dissolve the Knorr Ginataang Gulay complete recipe mix with water and bring to a boil.
• Add the lemongrass bulb and chili fingers. Lower the heat and let it simmer.
• Carefully place the wrapped fish one by one in the pot. Let this cook covered for about 10 minutes.

Notes to Consider:

• You can also use lemon or lime if calamansi is not available.
• In case the Knorr Ginataang Gulay complete recipe mix is not available where you're at, you can use freshly squeezed coconut milk, but you have to adjust the seasoning. The Knorr mix is actually a complete mix in itself - no need to add any more seasonings.
• Use the big bok choy leaves, and if the white part behind the leaf breaks while wrapping the fish, cut off this white part (kinda like filleting the leaf) to make leaf flexible.

When I planned to cook this dish, I wanted brother to buy 1 large tilapia so I can fillet it easily and I can cut the fillets in similar sizes, but when brother went to the market, I wasn't really able to give him my market list because he told me he didn't have that much money. When he got home, he told me he bought some tilapia for me and to my surprise, he bought itty bitty size tilapia (my palm was even bigger than the fish). Since he bought the whole fish, I had no choice but to fillet each of the fish one by one - which ate most of my preparation time. If you plan to cook this, I suggest you can your fish vendor to fillet the fish for you.

As for the wrapping part, don't stress too much if the fish wasn't "properly" wrapped - just secure the fish and the tomatoes and onions in the leaf (or leaves - in some fillets I had to use 2 leaves). Once you place the wrapped fish in the pot, the steam would wilt the leaves and hug the fish.

Other than the filleting and the wrapping parts, this dish was fairly easy to cook - and it became much easier using the Knorr mix. Our family is big Knorr users - from their liquid seasoning to bouillon cubes to their soup mix, we really love Knorr products. Actually, even before the cooking demo, we already tried using their Ginataang Gulay complete recipe mix and we all loved it. Again, I'd like to say that if you are going to use the Knorr mix, don't add any more seasoning in the dish (except the salt and pepper you used on the fillets, of course) because you might end up with a very salty dish if ever.

Serving the dish, both my mom and sister loved the dish, and I was surprised at how delicious ginataan, tilapia, and pechay taste together. Brother on the other hand hoped to taste a little more ginger in the dish, and I might try that one (adding ginger slices) the next time I cook this dish.

ps - If you're a Nokia phone user, you can download Knorr's "Cooklet" application via Ovi - just go to Cooklet.PH and follow the instructions.