Fried sardines

In Tagbilaran City, Bohol island, the Philippines, we can sometimes buy a sardine, which is called "mangsi" in the regional language Visayan. The name in English is "white sardine" and in Latin "Escualos thoracata".

The fish is small, not more than 10 centimeters, but tastes good. We use to buy many kilograms of "mangsi" in same time, and we use it for many dishes.

One use of "mangsi", normally just the same day we have got it into our house, is to fry the fish in cast iron pan.

First scrape the shells of the sardine. Many times the shells fall of while you clean the fish.

Then cut off the head and shoulder, and the tail and remove the intestines. Clean well and dry with kitchen paper.

Heat up the frying pan before using!

Use real butter and fry the sardines on both sides about 3 minutes. Small quantity of sea salt will make the taste better.

Eat with side dishes as mixed sallad and/or boiled vegetables or rice.

Delicious!