Pusit Talangka a Ginisa

Dr. Agnes D. FERNANDO

The Taba Ning Talangka is a very popular Kapampangan dish that is produced all year round in towns such as Sasmuan, Macabebe and Masantol, where big fishponds are located. Talangka production reaches its peak during the rainy season, where they can be found, not just in fishponds, but also in the areas where the freshwater of the Pampanga River mixes with the salt water of Manila Bay. It could have been that the abundance of the talangka (crabs) in the early 20th century led to an oversupply. Kapampangans preserved the excess talangka by extracting their fats and sautéing them.

I learned to cook this when I migrated to the town of Guagua, after my marriage to my husband, who is a native of that town.

GUAGUA

Pusit Talangka a Ginisa

PAN 8 - 10 DIFFICULT 4 HR 30 MIN

talangka (freshwater crabs) aslam (vinegar) bawang (garlic)

Guagua has a rich supply of freshwater crabs and there are never days that you cannot find these little creatures being sold in the wet market in Consignacion. The Taba Ning Talangka is almost as popular as caviar in the Philippines, and some vendors even create fake versions of this by adding flour as an extender.

In cooking the Taba Nang Talangka, the first thing to do is to extract the raw fats of the fresh crabs by either doing this manually or by the use of a “pamusit,” a wooden extractor device where, after opening the cover shell of the crab, its body is placed on a metal plate that has holes, and is squeezed, by using a hammer, to extract the essential fats. Through this process you can extract 1 kilo of Pisit Talangka from 3 kilos of crabs.

After getting all the fats, prepare the bawang (garlic) and aslam (vinegar). The standard ratio is that 1 kilo of Tabang Talangka needs 2 cloves of bawang (garlic). In a pan, sauté the grated garlic until it gets golden brown. Take note that you only need to use a moderate amount of cooking oil, just enough to fry the garlic, as the Tabang Talangka itself is made of oil and fats. You need to pay attention to the taba as you mix it in with the garlic, stirring thoroughly until they become unified. Once this happens, add some aslam (vinegar) to it. Lower the flame, and without doing anything to the mixture, let it simmer for several minutes until the vinegar evaporates. Once it does, you need to add salt to taste.

Let the dish cool, then put it in a container and tightly seal it. The Taba Ning Talangka can be used as a stand alone dish in any meal, or as an add on flavor, or garnish, in other foods, such as pasta. Some even use it as a spread for sandwiches and cookies.

I am a native of the town of Mexico. I grew up in the middle of farmland where our neighbors attended to their carabaos early in the morning before they took them to the rice fields they cultivated. This environment made me love cooking the traditional way, and I continue that as I grow older. Fastforwarding into the future, I am now a doctor and have children that are also in the medical and culinary fields. My life has been fulfilled the way I dreamed it.