FILIPINO FAMILY COOKS FISH FEAST - Delicious Local Carp Tboli Mindanao

LIPONAN is one of the favourite fish of the T'Boli people of South Cotabato, and when my friend David brought some home to feed his family (and me!), I was excited to try it.

First he fried the fish then cooked it into a coconut milk sauce with a local fern called Paku. The next day I bought a 3kg monster fish and set about cooking it differently, first as a vegetable soup, and then as the classic Filipino dish sinigang using santol from his garden.

David showed me some of the farflung communities that he's been working in recently, exhibiting his work in organising these places that have for a long time been neglected. Sitio Disecit is above Bakngeb River Cave in Barangay Laconon, and is a crossroads of many other small sitios, with a brighter future now.

And some locals wanted to help me out with my (not very good) T'Boli language skills!

Food - but healthier!

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