What's in a name?

Bangsi, dibang, himalit and isdang-lawin.

- CHIT U. JUAN

They refer to the same species we call flying fish (Parexocoetus Brachypterus) of the family Exocoetidae.

My friend Dhang Tecson of Sinaya Seafood says they repopulate easily and could be the solution to lowering prices of fish and making seafood more accessible.

If we identify these fish that consumers must get to know, we can help our fisherfolk sell "lesser known species" and help them be more sustainable. Why should we just settle for bangus, tilapia and galunggong? There is bisugo, torsilyo and tabagak that the INSPIRE Project of Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF) assists through C3, an NGO partner. These three come from Roxas, Palawan and are now dried using more sanitary methods, so you can be assured the dried fish are safe to consume. This is knowing your farmer or fisherfolk, and traceability of your food.

We were introduced to tabagak which looks like your regular tuyo or the ubiquitous dried species we are most familiar with. But they call it tabagak. So what's in a name?

We Filipinos also have different terms for daing. Daing may not necessarily mean just bangus (milkfish). It can be lamayo (marinated but not crisp dried), bulad (Cebuano for dried) or simply tuyo (the general term for dried).

To also increase the popularity of these fish species, we have to teach or encourage people to eat paksiw, sinigang, pesa and pangat. These terms are for cooking fish in vinegar (paksiw), rice broth (sinigang) and plain water but with ginger or tomatoes and onions.

I am not a cook, but I have a lot of memories eating fish in many ways. Our Mom would even gut the fish herself and put the innards on our plants!