Paksiw () is a Filipino style of cooking, whose name means "to cook and simmer in vinegar". Common dishes bearing the term, however, can vary substantially depending on what is being cooked.
Pinangat na isda may sometimes also be referred to as paksiw, though it is a different but related dish that uses sour fruits like calamansi, kamias (bilimbi) or sampalok (tamarind) to sour the broth rather than vinegar.
Types
Paksiw refers to a wide range of very different dishes that are cooked in a vinegar broth. They include the following:
Ginataang paksiw na isda
A common variant of
ginataang isda (fish in coconut milk) that adds vinegar to sour the broth. This variant combines the
ginataan and
paksiw methods of cooking in
Filipino cuisine.
Inun-unan
Inun-unan or
inun-onan is a notable
Visayas version of the fish
paksiw dish spiced primarily with
ginger, as well as onions, shallots, pepper, salt, and sometimes
siling haba chilis. Unlike northern
paksiw na isda, it does not include vegetables and very little or no water is added to the broth. It is sometimes anglicized as "boiled pickled fish".
The name comes from the Visayan
verb un-un or
un-on, meaning to "stew with vinegar, salt, and spices."
Paksiw na baboy
Paksiw na baboy, which is pork, usually
Ham hock or shank (
paksiw na pata for pig's trotters), cooked in ingredients similar to those in
Philippine adobo but with the addition of sugar and banana blossoms (or pineapples) to make it sweeter and water to keep the meat moist and to yield a rich sauce.
Paksiw na dilis
A unique variant of fish
paksiw made with
anchovies (known as
dilis in
Tagalog language and
bolinaw in Visayan languages) that is then wrapped in a
banana leaf. It is also known as
inun-unan na bolinaw or
pinais na bolinaw in Visayan-speaking regions.
Paksiw na isda
Paksiw na isda is fish poached in a vinegar broth usually seasoned with fish sauce and spiced with
siling mahaba. It also usually includes vegetables, commonly eggplant and
ampalaya (
bitter melon).
Paksiw na lechon
Paksiw na lechon is leftover spit-roasted pork (
lechon) meat that is cooked with vinegar, garlic, onions, black pepper, and some water. The
Luzon version adds ground liver or
liver spread ("lechon sauce"), while the
Visayas versions do not.
See also
