A Tuesday night, rain drumming against the windows, and the fridge is almost empty. This is exactly where this Filipino dish finds its place. A tin of sardines, a sayote, fifteen minutes — nothing more needed.
Ingredients :
- Canned sardines in tomato sauce — This is the backbone of the dish. Any brand will do, but if you find a Filipino brand (Mega Sardinas, 555), the sauce is often a bit bolder and already well-seasoned. The liquid from the tin counts as much as the fish — don’t throw it away, it’s what makes the sauce.
- Sayote (chayote) — A vegetable often seen but rarely understood. Firm and slightly crunchy when raw, its white flesh turns translucent when cooked. Choose one that feels firm when pressed. Peel it with a peeler — the skin is thin but a bit tough to chew — and cut it into pieces of about 1.5 cm, no less.
- The aromatic base: garlic, onion, tomato — Three ingredients, one function: building the flavor base before the sardines arrive. The garlic should brown slightly, the onion softens in a minute, and the tomato brings the acidity to balance the richness of the fish. Don’t skip this step even if you’re in a hurry.
- Seasoning (Maggi Sarap or soy sauce) — The original recipe uses Maggi Magic Sarap, a Filipino seasoning containing salt, garlic powder, and a bit of MSG. If you don’t have any, a teaspoon of light soy sauce is plenty. Taste before adding anything — the canned sardines are already quite salty.
