Give us this Day Our Daily Bangus

Appears in
Memories of Philippine Kitchens

By Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan

Published 2006

  • About
Bangus is the most popular fish among Filipinos. While I was growing up, my mother coined the prayer “Give us this day our daily bangus” because we refused to eat our meals unless we had our pan-fried milkfish.

The term dinaing refers to the way the fish is cut from the back, keeping the belly together. In the Philippines, bangus is plentiful in areas where there are palaisdaan, or fish farms. Dagupan in Central Luzon is famous for its bangus farms. One can get bangus in different sizes. I remember that the baby bangus that were too small for making dinaing were stuffed with diced tomatoes, onions, and sliced ginger, wrapped in banana leaves, grilled, then eaten with green mangoes, fresh tomatoes, and bagoong, along with a dip of kalamansi lime juice and chiles.