Kinunot na Pagi

Kinunot is a Bicolano dish made up of either stingray or baby shark cooked in coconut milk with malungay or moringa leaves. I was raring to cooked kinutnot ever since we had that family dinner at Kinuron located at Tiendesitas.

The food stall specialized in Pilipino cuisine specifically Bicol authentic dishes. We had a big dinner package called family treat and an additional order of kinunot na pagi. The dinner is not bad at all I would recommend the place to any one. There are a lot of food choices from your usual sinigang to the more exotic kinunot na pagi.

Now its time to cook the dish myself, I found this small sized stingray at the wet market. Stingray when not clean properly will result a fishy dish. I have to discard all the innards, the liver is the source of the unpleasant odor of most stingrays. Then I rubed the skin and guts wall with a lot of salt and rinse thoroughly. The stingray meats are cut into pieces and parboiled with ginger, bay leaf and peppercorn just enough to flake the meat including the cartilage and ligaments. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients:

1 kilo pagi, stingray
2 bundles malunggay leaves, remove from stem
1 thumb size ginger, cut into thin strips
2 thumb size ginger, crushed
3-4 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup kakang gata
1/2 head garlic, crushed
1 medium size onion, chopped
1-2 pcs. siling labuyo, chopped
2-3 pcs. siling haba
1/4 cup vinegar
2-3 pcs. bay leaf
1 tbsp. peppercorn
salt and pepper


Cooking procedure:

Wash stingray by rubbing the skin with salt, rinse and drain. Cut into large pieces about 2” cubes. Put cut stingray in a pot, add in enough water to cover the stingray meat, crushed ginger, peppercorns, bay leaf and about 1 tsp. of salt. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender and just cooked, remove from pot drain and keep aside to cool down. Flake the meat, keep the cartilage and ligaments. In a saucepan, put about 3 to 4 cups of coconut milk, garlic, onions and ginger, let boil and simmer stirring constantly to avoid the milk from curdling for 8 to 10 minutes or until the coconut milk thickens and reduce to half. Now add the flaked stingray, vinegar and simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes or until oil start to come out, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the kakang gata, siling labuyo, siling haba and malunggay leaves. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to creamy texture. Serve with hot steamed rice.