Home-made Spanish Style Sardines

  As a native Filipino,part of our weekly food list in Philippines is a tin of sardines. We cook this with any vegetables around or just serve it with tomato and onion. I don't buy it since I learn how to cook it. It is really fantastic,nutritious food. You can serve it with your favorite salad,it goes well with cucumber,tomato,scallion and a squeeze of lemon....love it!


    INGREDIENTS:

         1 kilo SARDINE (tamban)
          or 1 kilo BANGUS
         1 medium size Red Bell Pepper. (cut into strips)
         1 pc. pickled cucumber, sliced crosswise
         1 med. size carrot, sliced crosswise
          bay leaf
          peppercorns
          Bird's eye chili (siling labuyo) (optional)
          olive oil or corn oil
          salt

       8-9 pcs. 8 oz wide neck glass bottle for Sardines(tamban)
      6 pcs. 16 oz wide neck glass bottle for bangus


    METHOD;

Clean fish and cut head and tail off leaving the mid section, length according to bottle’s height. Remove fish innards and wash thoroughly, place in a colander and let drain until almost dry, wipe off all traces of blood. Roll fish in salt and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Now remove excess salt off the fish and put inside the bottle, insert at the side of each bottle 2-3 sliced carrots, 2-3 sliced pickled cucumber, 2-3 strips of bell pepper, 2 bay leaf, 5 peppercorns and siling labuyo (if using). Pour oil up to the neck of each bottle, put on the bottle cap and loosely close. Put a rack inside the pressure cooker and arrange the bottles. Pour water into the pressure cooker up to about an inch below the bottle neck. Cover and seal the pressure cooker and turn on the heat, when the pressure cooker starts to whistle lower the heat and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the heat and release the pressure before opening pressure cooker. Check the level of oil on each bottle, add more oil as necessary, let cool down to warm temperature and lock the bottles. Wash the bottled sardines. Keep the bottled sardine for 2-3 days to cure before serving. But its ready to eat whenever you want. Enjoy!