Burong Isda, Mommy’s Version

Layers of fresh fish and cooked rice

We have lots of kapampangan fare that we eat at home simply because mom and my inang has taught us well in appreciating their cuisine. One of things I have learned to like is buro. Though it comes in different forms, like burong hipon, isda, and others, we make burong isda and use tilapia. I remember that mom never really made this until after my inang passed away. And the recipe was actually more of an inquiry more than anything else from my mom. She then had to resort to trial and error until she finally had it down. Now, she’s the only one in her family who makes it.

Cleaned fish

Sliced open, but the bones still intact

Ready for layering

Buro is fermented rice along with another ingredient, like fish. This is fresh fish that is salted, layered with cooked rice, which is also salted. This is placed in one container and not touched until after ten days. This allows some fermentation time, The fish bones soften, the rice ferments, the salt preserves it all. After ten days, we saute it in ginger and onions, some use tomatoes too. The final product is a sour salty mixture, that is good for dipping fried fish. Some of my family are happy to eat this alone with rice, and I on the other hand, can eat it on its own.

Admittedly, this is an unfamiliar taste for most people. The stench it gives off (not like the durian though) is enough to turn some people away. But people who have tried and love it have always come to look for it in our household. :)

For a more detailed recipe, please message me. I have to interview mom for the actual step by step :) I have actually posted the recipe in the site because of the numerous requests. Please follow link here and enjoy :) Feel free to message me about it still. My mom enjoys hearing stories about how her buro recipe has become famous all over the world :)

Fish still whole but broken down :) being cooked

Cooked :)

Advertisement
Comments
29 Responses to “Burong Isda, Mommy’s Version”
  1. JLS A. RUEDA says:

    Can I have the recipe of your buro? I really wanted to learn how to do it, step by step.
    Thanks.

    JLS

  2. kate kho says:

    Hi! May i request for the recipe of the burong isda…thanks a lot!!! Yours surely looks very good…

  3. john says:

    can you please email me the recipe many thanks

  4. pinkbombils says:

    Hi,

    My mom is Kapampangan (in General Santos), and everytime I visit my lola, she always servede buro with every meal…I hated it at first, until I already look for it every meal…it has been years since I had buro, but the taste is still very vivid in my mind….I wish I can make them myself.

    Please send me the detailed recipe at ken@pinkbombils.com

    I really really appreciate it!

    P.S. The container with the layered fish and rice, reminds me of my lola’s cupboard that had many jars of it because her son and daughters would just go to her house and snatch one whenever they ran out of buro at their house,.

    • clarissa623 says:

      Hi :) I actually posted it here already, since a lot are asking for it, but I’ll email it to you also :)

      My sentiments are the same, the smell turned me off before, but now, fried fish equates to buro :) and since my mom is the only one in her family to make this, she has to make tons at a time. :)

  5. sheryl maschal says:

    can you send me the recipe of buro. i really wanted to learn how to cook it, i miss buro and im here in Us now. thank you so much :)

  6. Julie says:

    IS makin gburong tilapia the same as making burong hipon. I love them both. I am from Tarlac and I missed buro so much. could you pls send me the recipe for burong hipon and burong tilapia. THX

    • clarissa623 says:

      Hi Julie. You found my other recipe already. I hope it will turn out better this time. I am not sure if it’s the same as burong hipon though, since I have never made or tasted that. :)

  7. cristina lundang says:

    Hi. I am a Kapampangan from Tarlac who is now based in Canada with my family. I have not eaten Burong Isda or Burong Hipon since we came over in 2008.

    I was wondering if I can make the dish and was searching the internet when I came across your website.

    I would really appreciate if you would be so gracious as to share your recipe with me.

    Thank you.

    Cristina

  8. Robert says:

    Haven’t had Buro since I came over in the U.S. in 1981. I am glad I came across your website. Please send me a detailed recipe on how to make this delicious dish, Thank you :-)

    • clarissa623 says:

      1981? wasn’t even born then yet! :)

      Glad you came across the site. Hope you’ll try making it. A lot of readers that have been asking for the recipe are people who have gone abroad like you, and have had some success with the recipe. It’s not exact, but it works. :)

      Sent it already. :) Enjoy!

  9. Hi i like buro very much! can i have your recipe?thanks a lot..my email is mc_interino@yahoo.com

  10. Louis says:

    Clarification. Am I suppose to squish every 3rd day – or just ones during the fermentation period?

  11. Roden cortez says:

    This bring back the old days

  12. TIN says:

    hello, i live here in Qatar and i will apreciate it so much if you email me the procedures in making a burong isda or hipon… I love this food very much. Thanks and God bless..

  13. Hi! Would you mind emailing me the complete recipe, please? Thank you!

    Marlene

  14. mike says:

    quite interesting. i’ll try your recipe later.

  15. bebot cruz says:

    Hi, Can i have a detailed recipe of your burong isda? thanks in advance

  16. jorge david says:

    dear mom,
    how i wish i could also have your recipe. thanking you in advance and god bless you for not being selfish to share what you know to others. again THANK YOU SO MUCH

  17. clarissa623 says:

    I’m not a mom, but it’s my mom’s recipe :P So thanks to her! I hope you enjoy the buro!

Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...
  1. [...] to be a common request for a more detailed reciple (since I really hardly gave anything out on this post), I shall be posting this online. [...]



Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 81 other followers