Up close, they look like bloated, buck-toothed, doe-eyed miniature dolphins. Known to be very lethal, ingesting a drop of its neurotoxin assures anyone a rapid, violent death. Yet, this unattractive, life-threatening fish is available for non-toxic consumption during certain time of the year. Call it a game of Russian Roulette or reality TV Fear Factor. Taking a bite of this exotic food will make you come back begging for more.
Enter puffer fish, globefish or blowfish – buriring in local Visayan dialect in the Philippines. Its fishing season is now officially open!
Unlike most other species of fish that are readily available in the market all year round, buriring possesses a pattern of uncanny survival behavior. It is strictly seasonal. At times, it is so elusive it does not show up for years. Owing to this unique character, buriring commands a high price in the wet market. A kilo costs Php250.00 ($5.00) but if supply runs short and demand rises, it could run as high as Php300.00 ($6.00).
The adult fish like its equally deadly cousin butete normally does not forage in groups. During its mating and breeding season from December to June, buriring is at its deadliest. Eating the fish would mean flirtation with death. However, when the eggs hatch and rapidly mature in July to September, the young adults surprisingly group to school alongside other edible fishes at the bottom of the sea, thereby caught during the process by commercial fishing boats with the rest of the harvest. During this season, it loses its toxicity. When and how it becomes a sought after gastronomic delicacy is shrouded in history. Maybe it started as a prank. But after discovering its delicate chicken-like flavor, people start clamoring for more.
Fresh Catch
The best and freshest batch of the catch usually turns up in the wet market at the break of dawn. Spread over the long white tiled concrete stall, these wiggling, tiny fishes with big puffed up white bellies is a remarkable sight. As soon as the price is fixed, the buying frenzy begins. Trading lasts only for a few minutes. Latecomers will have to wait for the next delivery on the later part of the morning although this is no longer as fresh as the first and regarded as
helada (iced).
Epicurean Delight
Buriring is best eaten when cooked ala paksiw style. Not like the ordinary paksiw though where we put the fish in the pan and just haphazardly dump in all the spices and ingredients together. Paksiw Nga Buriring is cooked with élan. Before anything else, the fish is rubbed with salt and young serguwelas leaves and washed until it is squeaky clean. This rinses off the slippery mucoid film covering the skin.
Preparation takes time using the best and right amount of spices and ingredients. A “bedding” of libas leaves is placed at the bottom of the pot and buriring is placed over it in layers of butter, red onions, ripe tomatoes, libas and cubes of peeled, semi-ripe santol fruit – the most favored souring agent. The entire mixture is then drizzled with soy sauce and cooked alangay (low simmering heat) to perfection without stirring to avoid squashing the delicate meat. It is already done when the skin of the fish starts to peel and crack, and the meat tender and white along with that distinct spicy, sweet mouth watering aroma that begins to hang in the air, firing up your feeding frenzy.
One On One
Paksiw Nga Buriring is eaten hot, sans trimmings, add-ons and embellishments except for a plate of heaping hot jasmine rice, a large sized bottle of your favorite drink and sheer guts that after the meal, you are going to live to tell the tale.
Bon appétit!
There is a fable about the way birds first got their wings. The story goes that initially they were made without them. Then God made the wings, set them down before the wingless birds, and said to them, "Take up these burdens and carry them."