Inihaw na hito (grilled catfish)

Fish was an important staple for both my parents who were born and raised by the ocean in the Visayas and Mindanao. I love the simple Bisaya delicacy of raw fish marinated in vinegar, or kinilaw. Then there is grilled fish, or sinugbang isda.

However little did I know that near the middle of the central Luzon plains almost 30 kilometers away from the nearest coastline would hold within it a specific and delicious fish: inihaw na hito or grilled catfish.

To make it, fresh hito is simply cleaned, marinated with salt and calamansi, then grilled. Other home recipes involve stuffing them with onions, tomato, and other fixin’s. It’s just as simple as sinugbang isda in the Visayas. But the great thing I love about grilled hito is that it is hardly ever too dry, and is most of the time very flavorful.

Every time we’re in Pangasinan, I make sure to get freshly-grilled hito from the town proper which are served on sticks. If we’re in town for a week or so, myself or my fiancée’s family will bring in the fish every other night for dinner and/or pulutan (food to have with alcohol). Sometime ago we discovered crispy hito, or deep fried and battered catfish. I try to enjoy this least often due to the additional damage done to our arteries. It is delicious nonetheless.

Unfortunately, catfish is not loved by all. Especially among those I’ve shared my newfound favorite fish with. Catfish is deemed a “dirty” fish since it dwells at the river bottom, eating whatever falls to the river floor. However most catfish in Pangasinan is farmed and fed specific items to grow them. Native catfish, typically only available now from local lakes and rivers in eastern Pangasinan, are actually said to be even more delicious.

Another issue is an environmental one. Catfish farms threaten wetland habitats, and catfish are known as invasive species in river ecosystems especially in the Philippines where most farmed catfish are actually introduced from other countries. Solutions to this include beefing up local policy and monitoring by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources or BFAR.

With this said, I’d love to try the native species, and wonder if it’s still possible to bring it back and scale down on the invasive catfish. Until then, with economic opportunity the prime focus over ecological stability, hito will remain a prized and affordable dinner or pulutan dish in this part of Pangasinan.

Ingredients

1. Small to medium catfish.
2. Salt and calamansi.
3. Outdoor grill.
4. Peeled and chopped onions and tomato.
5. Peeled garlic cloves.
6. Wooden sticks or small bamboo branches for catfish, use as skewer.

Instructions

1. Prepare and light your outdoor grill.
2. Clean the catfish and remove innards.
3. Stuff the body with chopped onions, tomato, and peeled garlic cloves.
4. Rub the fish with salt and calamansi. Soy sauce optional.
5. Place on grill.
6. Flip every 10 minutes.
7. Cook until meat is white or no longer bloody.
8. Serve with rice, and a dipping sauce or “sawsawan” of calamansi, bagoong (fermented fish sauce), and/or soy sauce.
9. Eat with your hands :).