Introducing Jojo

Nanay Teresita has long been Jojo’s inspiration for cooking. “Magaling talaga magluto si Nanay, siya ang naging inspirasyon ko sa pagluluto ko. Dietician din kasi siya, kaya marunong si Nanay pagdating sa pagkain,” [My mom is a really good cook, she is my inspiration for my cooking. She is also a dietician, that’s why she knows so much about food] he shares.

Jojo’s foray into the food and beverage world started when he was just 18 years old. Fifteen thousand pesos (approx. HKD 2,000) in hand, he bought some meats to grill and a few cases of beer and set to work on his little BBQ stall. It was an instant success, and the years that followed saw him open a number of popular restaurants in Cebu City. These days, Jojo works as a cook in Hong Kong, delighting customers not only with his food, but also with his many tales of adventure.

A brief history of linarang

Every day at 2am, Pasil market in Cebu City comes alive, bustling with the wholesale trade of thousands of kilograms of fish. From squid to sharks, shrimp to blue marlin, the volume and variety of seafood is staggering. It’s also where you’ll find the famous Cebuano dish Linarang. 

Linarang is a sour fish stew made with tomatoes, bell pepper, green chilli, onion, ginger, and garlic. The soup is traditionally soured using a fruit known locally in the Visayas as iba (kamias in Tagalog, or bilimbi in English). Linarang is served hot and fresh off the fire with rice as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 500g fresh fish 
• 5 big tomatoes, quartered
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced into big squares
• 1 green chilli
• 3 bird’s eye chillies, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
• 1 thumb of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 4 stalks of green onion, chopped
• 1 small packet of Knorr sinigang mix (as substitute for iba)
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 500ml water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Lightly blanche the fish with hot water. This step aims to not only clean the fish, but also makes the Linarang soup clearer, as the blood from the fish will be cooked off by the hot water. Leave for 2 minutes then drain
2. Sauté the tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic, ginger, and green chilli in cooking oil with a sprinkling of salt, over a medium heat until the onions are translucent. “Turo ng Nanay ko na asinan dapat ang ginisa para lumabas ang lasa ng sangkap,” [my mom taught me to add salt while sautéing so the flavours of the ingredients pop] Jojo says
3. Add water and let it simmer for around 10 minutes before adding the sinigang mix
4. Place the fish in the soup and cook for another 10 minutes, then add the green onions
5. Serve hot with rice