PAKSIW NA BANGUS

13 ingredients•Prep: 10 mins•Cook: 17 mins

Tita Becky •

October 9, 2025

I had a strong dislike of anyting "paksiw" or any dish cooked in vinegar when I was a little kid. The strong sour taste was off-putting to my immature taste buds. However, my mom still made me eat it, and for some odd reason, now I love it as an adult! Funny how that works, right? It’s one of the easiest Filipino dishes you’ll ever make. It’s layers of ingredients in one pot. You can’t mess it up!

Ingredients (13)

Milk fish(2 lb, cleaned and sliced into large pieces)
Your local Asian market fish monger will clean and slice the fish for you
Water(1 cup)
Cane vinegar(½ cup)
substitute rice, white or apple cider vinegar
Fish sauce(1 tsp)
Ginger(1 2-inch knob, sliced into thick strips)
Onion(1 small, thinly sliced)
Mild green chilis or "siling haba"(3 pieces)
Garlic(8 cloves, smashed)

Instructions

On a cold, deep pan or wok, make a bed of ginger (1 2-inch knob), onion (1 small), garlic (8 cloves), and chilis (3 pieces).
Arrange pieces of milkfish (2 lb) on top.
Pour water (1 cup), vinegar (½ cup), and fish sauce (1 tsp).
Season fish with salt (to taste) and black pepper (to taste)
Turn the heat to medium-high and boil for 7 minutes uncovered.
Add eggplant (1 medium) and bitter gourd (1 medium) and oil (1 tsp). Cover, reduce heat, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Taste the broth if it's to your liking. Done.
Serve with steamed white rice and enjoy!

Notes

The oil is optional.
The milkfish has a lot of bones so be cautious when eating.
My mom sometimes uses whole black peppercorns instead of ground or crushed. I prefer crushed because I like the strong peppery flavor against the tangy broth.
Adjust water and cane vinegar to your liking.

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