A sweet ’n sour invasion

The table was set and I impatiently waited for our host to say grace before I lifted my fork to dig into the delicious food. One particular dish stood out in the sumptuous dinner spread and it was a large platter of “sweet and sour fish” that elicited a salivary deluge. 

The restaurant - the Grand Emerald Seafood Garden, is a Cantonese joint that has been serving yummy food since my younger years - many decades back, and the sweet and sour grouper was my all-time favorite. We were invited by some cousins on our short visit home from Bangkok and when Cindy mentioned that the Grand Emerald was the place, I was most certain that this dish won’t be missed. In no time we were smacking our lips and gobbling down the delicious food. The dinner ended and I was overly satiated and satisfied with my mind fondly savoring the tasty grouper.

On our drive home I overheard my wife and her mom talking about their plans for a Christmas dinner before we returned to Bangkok, and sure enough they had the yummy sweet and sour from Emerald in their list. When the day came, I was tasked to drive to the resto to get the food that they had ordered by phone and that was when my appetite for the sweet and sour was dashed to pieces. I was told by the lady at the counter that the tasty fish in our order was "Dory," not Lapu-lapu (vernacular for grouper). She said that they actually tell the customer ordering the dish that the fish is Dory.

I have been around fish ponds in Thailand and the Mekong river that mass-produce this fish - Pangasius hypophthalamus, and I am well aware about the issues that hound the raising, processing and shipping of this fish, which have made me decide many years back to stay away from store-bought, processed Dory. Catching it myself in a pond that is clearly free from contaminants and pollutants is a totally different story.

Driving home with the packed sweet and sour dish on the seat beside me, my mind slowly took hold of the sad truth that the grouper fish has become too scarce and expensive for regular dinner dishes in the local restaurants that the Dory has conveniently taken over it's place. I couldn't think of a Dory-producing region in the Philippines so I came to the realization that the tasty fish that I just recently devoured apparently was a product of the polluted ponds of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand that I abhorred and detested, and that this low-priced, controversial fish has finally invaded the dining tables of my homeland islands.

the sweet and sour dish from the Grand

Emerald's website

that's the Pangasius hypohpthalamus or Dory. A species

of catfish without scales and is certainly not kosher.

at a processing plant

 

filleted and ready for packing

the grouper caught in a recent fishing trip

Dancing Aliwagwag and sleepy Cateel

Two contrasting moods at one location in the island of Mindanao have managed to avoid this blogger's interest through all his years as a resident of the same island. Notwithstanding his adventurous spirit, this writer failed to travel to the east coast due to a lack of knowledge about the beauty and grandeur that lies therein. That is now a thing of the past, and "mesmerized" and "in love" describe his sentiments for this place.

Cateel has the best advantage for a town to develop considering a big river and the limitless ocean resources at its feet. The perceived disadvantage lies in the rugged mountain range that keeps it isolated and beyond comfortable reach. A weather-beaten streamer on one side of the road welcomes visitors to Cateel's 114th founding anniversary, which shows that in spite of the length of time that it has been organized, Cateel's growth is much less than the development of another town - Bagangga, that lies a little distance towards the south. Politics and competition may have been some factors aside from the topography, and yet all in all, the present condition of Cateel unwittingly stands out as a gem for the adventurous spirit.

Even if the engineers had no other option, but to build a highway right across the heart of the Aliwagwag, there is wisdom in the location of the bridge. Persons with disabilities can now view its grandeur and appreciate the ease by which it can be reached. 

One thing that struck this writer even as he waited at the Lyrah bus station in Davao City, was the friendly and honest spirit of the Cateeleños who were aboard the same bus. Not only did they advise him on what to do and where to go - one unassuming guy even invited him to his house for a sumptuous meal of crabs and fresh fish - an invitation that could have been accepted if it were not for the stingy time constraints. Another exhibit of the natural and unadulterated spirit of Cateel was in a small road-side eatery where this writer enjoyed not only the simple, yet delicious food, but also the lively banter between the owner, and her unsolicited discount when he asked for his check. To top it all, another diner who overheard this writer's need for wifi connection invited him to his hardware store across the street for free use of the much needed internet service.

Wow, just wow! Cateel, you have captured my heart, and to borrow the words of the uniformed dude who strutted the beach in Leyte, let me declare, "I shall return!"