I'm not a fan of dried fish at all.
I hardly ever eat any, simply because it give me no pleasure whatsoever.

However, homemade Labtingaw is a different 'kettle-of-fish' (pun intended hehehe) altogether. It's simply wonderful.

It's basically a semi-dried fish and only very slight salty being lightly splashed in diluted sea-water after cleaning and splitting (in kipper fashion). No washing or soaking in brine mixtures and no other salt added.

My bro-in-law taught me how to catch Matambaka (Bigeye Scad). He claims this is best although in principle lots of similar fish could be used.
I'll stick to his experienced advice for a gourmet result.


Here's some freshly caught Matambaka (Bigeye Scad)

The cleaned and split fish are the arranged neatly on a fine wooden/bamboo mesh and hung out in the sun for 3-4 hours.

This Labtingaw isn't easily found in any market and besides there just isn't enough salt to keep them unspoilt for very long.
When subsequently crispy fried they're just wonderful, delicious and perfect with cold beer when they are served up with some chilli vinegar and rice.



There's a bit more of a meaty taste and texture than the usual dried fish such as buwad or danggit etc as it's only semi-dried and not completely shriveled up.

For me this is an original homemade gouremet delicacy.
When fried correctly and crispy you find everything can be eaten so easily, bones, head, eyes, tail. In fact everything, nothing is wasted at all.