Salmon Fish Head Soup

Last night we have salmon fish head soup with boktoy and green beans based in tamarind sauce. Thus I reposting the following recipe I wrote about a year ago. yum, yum, yum!


When I saw the salmon fish heads yesterday at the grocery store, I changed the menu for our dinner instantly. I was planning on purchasing 2 rib eye steaks to broil, but the temptation for fish head soup was just so great, I forgot about the rib eye steak. I paid only six dollars for two large salmon fish heads instead of $18 dollars for two pieces of rib eye steaks.

Fish head soup ( sinigang) is a delicacy in the Philippines and one of the most common dishes in an oriental family's diet. My favorite fish head soup besides salmon is the head of bingao, a big ocean fish that belongs to the snapper specie However, to most non-oriental fish head soup is not for human consumption and just looking at the fish head disgust them. My four US born children and six grand children do not eat fish head soup, but they love salmon steaks or red snapper fillet. Of course they love Fish and Chips.

When I was growing up in the Philippines the fish head was always reserved for the head of the family(my DAD) or for the guest of honor at dinner time. The other parts of the fish are for other members of the family. I have a very simple recipe for salmon head fish soup which contained a lot of vegetables( green beans, baby bokchoy, tomatoes, radishes and eggplant)and of course flavored with tamarind cubes.

Here's my recipe. If other vegetables are not available in your area, baby bokchoy, radishes and green beans must be a must if you want your soup to taste good! The following recipe will serve from 6 to 8 adults with other dishes in the dinner table.

2 pcs salmon fish heads (red snapper or other big ocean fish heads may be used)
1.5 liters of water
1 medium onions (quartered)
2 tbsp of ginger slices
2 pcs of medium tomatoes (quartered)
6 pcs string beans (cut 3 inches approx)
6 bunches of baby bokchoy( Kangkong is used in the Philippines)
2 small raddish (sliced)
2 pcs of egg plant (sliced)
1 pck of sinigang mix (Tamarind based) (for 1.5 liter mix)



In a large sauce pan, boil water and onions & ginger then add fish and cooked for approx 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients( slice the vegetables evenly) except for the bokchoy and cooked for about 2-3 minutes and serve hot. Add the baby bokchoy last. Shut off the heat and let the pan simmer. Do not over cook veggies.

Fish heads contain a lot of omega 3 fatty acids and fish oil that promote brain development according to a recent report on nutrition and health. There are some studies that shows that if a pregnant women eat fish (which means lots of omega3 fatty acids or fish oil on her diet) her babies will have higher IQs and fewer learning disorders, and were less likely to develop mental retardation or cognitive delays.

As for me even if I can not get pregnant, I will eat fish as often as I can, since I love fish and I know it is good for my health and in my aging years. For those of you who hate fish, especially fish heads, I feel sorry for you since you are missing one of the most nutritious and delicious dish easily available all over the world.

The Fruits of Summer in Our Kitchen

Mango Fruit in my Garden in the Philippines

This morning, when I woke up, I saw IMMEDIATELY the tray of fresh fruits in our kitchen. I realized then that my wife and I are lucky to have an abundance of fresh fruits that we did not have to buy. How in the heck did this happen?. Let me explain.

Our next door neighbor who is a widow and also our casino buddy, has an orchard in her backyard. She has almost all kinds of fruit trees both in her back, side and even in her front yard. Since she is alone in her 4-bedroom house, she just can not consumed all the fruits that she harvests every summer.

This week she gave us Japanese pears, plums, grapes, apples, figs, prunes and peaches. Last month we enjoyed the blueberries and raspberries from her garden. She has lemons, oranges and kumquats in her garden also. There is no grass in her ½ acre of yard, but only ground covers and fruit trees. The fruit orchard was the project of her late husband.

Speaking of gardening, my fruit orchard in Marinduque has also a varieties of tropical fruits. I have papayas ( several varieties), mangoes ( THREE varieties), avocados, bananas (several varieties), starapples, guayabanos and Cashews trees. I have also guavas, rambutans, santol, duhats, jackfruits and lanzones fruit trees. I have also planted several varieties of citrus trees, pomelo, kalamansi, native oranges and lemon trees. My durian fruit trees( two) was a victim of Typhoon, Reming, a couple of years ago.

Have Fun and enjoy your summer days. Keep cool and indulge on the fruits of summer.