Special relyenong bangus (stuffed milkfish)

February 22, 2006 
Filed under Filipino food, Seafood recipes

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First, the fish is scaled, gutted and the intestines pulled out. Through the cavity opening, a long slender spatula is inserted between the meat and the skin. The spatula is pushed, pulled and moved around to separate the skin from the meat. Then, the spine is snapped near the tail. Pressure is exerted where the spine had been snapped to push the meat until it comes out whole between the head and the body of the fish.

The not too experienced fish mongers will split the bangus open and scrape the meat off the skin. That will require you to sew up the skin before stuffing. Too much work. Besides, the visible strings don’t look attractive at all.

Back home, I steamed the meat and marinated the skin in a mixture of lemon juice and light soy sauce (below, left). Then, I flaked the cooled meat and mixed it with stuffed vegetables and beaten eggs (below, middle). Finally, using a spoon, I stuffed the skin with the fish and vegetables mixture.

marinating the skin of the bangus (milkfish)flaked steamed meat of the bangus (milkfish)the stuffed relyenong bangus before grilling

But that’s not the reason I’m calling this dish my “special relyenong bangus“. The surprise is inside the cooked relyeno. Click on the link to page 3 and see the photo of the cooked dish to see why all the work I did in making this dish (when I could have bought ready make relyenong bangus in the supermarket) was really worth it.

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Comments

21 Comments on "Special relyenong bangus (stuffed milkfish)"

  1. jokoness on Wed, 22nd Feb 2006 3:03 pm 

    i usually fry mine, but then before i do, i usually roll (??) the fish in flour+pepper for added crispiness, the skin tastes better and my really maarte brother who doesn’t like to eat the skin eats it. hehe.

    i have never tried stuffing the relleno with eggs. good idea. =)

  2. Connie on Wed, 22nd Feb 2006 5:29 pm 

    You mean dredge in flour and pepper? Hmmm, flour+pepper sounds good.

  3. schutz on Wed, 22nd Feb 2006 7:04 pm 

    I like it too, actually na-try ko rin po is dredging the fish in the flour with some peppers on it, yummy din po. Pero I wanted also to try this one with hard boiled eggs inside i think that would also be good. thanks for this site.i really like this one. God bless!

  4. Nadia on Wed, 22nd Feb 2006 10:07 pm 

    oh my…i swore off making relleno because of all the prep work, but those eggs peeking out look so irresistable. relleno just got a lot fancier. my youngest’s son is celebrating his bday this saturday, perfect excuse for making relleno! Thanks for the insipiration…:razz:

  5. peterb on Wed, 22nd Feb 2006 11:51 pm 

    My wife really likes relyenong bangus. I guess, now is a good time to try this. Thanks for sharing! :smile:

    I once used japanese bread crumbs on fried tilapia. Really crunchy! :lol:

  6. abby on Sat, 25th Feb 2006 11:30 am 

    oh wow i’m so glad i found this site! i love rellenong bangus and we recently had a store-bought one and it was just awful.

    now i can “try” doing this at home!

  7. Gerald on Sat, 25th Feb 2006 1:02 pm 

    I used to be so scared of eating bangus because of all the bones. My favorite is daing, but relyenong comes in at second.

  8. darlene on Sun, 26th Feb 2006 1:24 am 

    I love your website, even when i am at work i check your website (only on breaks though :smile: ) and sometimes, i tease my friend in tennessee who lives far from asian stores..i copied and pasted some of the pictures…and she can’t wait for me to visit her next month..i will be bringing some filipino ingredients (as we have some asian stores around here in ohio)..Thank you for all your cooking tips..both of my kids love filipino dishes..GOD BLESS

  9. Connie on Sun, 26th Feb 2006 1:12 pm 

    schutz, the eggs make them look even more appetizing, ‘no?

    happy birthday to your boy, nadia! and have fun!

    peterb, wow, gives tilapia a tempura texture, huh? i think my kids will like that.

    great, abby, there’s nothing like home cooked food.

    gerald, you can buy fully deboned (seasoned or unseasoned) bangus fillets these days.

    happy cooking, darlene. :)

  10. gina on Thu, 2nd Mar 2006 4:07 pm 

    what a blessing!! how i wanted 2 cuk rellenong bangus but all the recipes i saw was, well, hard to follow. finally, you posted one. i can now treat myself with dis one, tnx.

    Q: aside from oven, what are other possible alternatives to grill this rellenong bangus? tnx.

  11. Connie on Thu, 2nd Mar 2006 8:25 pm 

    GIna, you can brush the skin with oil then wrap it in banana leaves. Grill over live coals and it’s really delicious! :smile:

  12. cryz on Mon, 17th Apr 2006 4:29 pm 

    your rellenong bangus is really good. i tried it last weekend and my kids simply liked it especially having that egg stuffed inside. that’s great!

  13. Connie on Mon, 17th Apr 2006 9:40 pm 

    That is good to know, Cryz. :)

  14. chie on Fri, 28th Jul 2006 2:30 pm 

    thanks 4 this recipes,now i can do it by myself w/o the help of my mom.great!

  15. joan esplanada on Sat, 29th Jul 2006 6:01 pm 

    its a lot of work to take all those bangus bones,what i do is i include it with the meat,bellpeper,carrots,garlic etc have it all grind sa palengke thats it no more peeling of the bones

  16. Ira on Fri, 22nd Dec 2006 7:46 am 

    Try not to steam the milkfish before deboning. Then saute the stuffing except the beaten eggs. After sauteing, add the beaten eggs. Lots of hardwork but well worth it. Relleno taste better and jucier.

  17. elle on Sat, 12th May 2007 5:49 pm 

    wow!! the egss are not the bad. i want to try the idea!!

  18. Connie on Sat, 12th May 2007 8:12 pm 

    Have fun with it, Elle. :)

  19. Monalisa on Fri, 15th Jun 2007 11:35 pm 

    This is always our traditional meal every party we have in the Philippines. Now, I move in Celtic (Ireland) - I haven’t eaten this for 5 years now.

    It takes a lot of patience and love to make this thats why it is so special.

    the only difference we made in this recipe is we add raisin. You are right put this in oven is more healther than deep frying.

  20. Lynne on Wed, 15th Aug 2007 7:22 am 

    how come the relleno i made came out soggy and the skin wasnt crispy? iwas testing how it turned out before i dared make one for a party. i marinated the skin in soy sauce n calamnsi juice then stuffed it then fried.did i do something not right?help…

  21. catt on Sat, 18th Aug 2007 5:56 pm 

    pls help me how to make relyenong bangus pls…..




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