MAMA'S ONAGA (Red Snapper) SOUP PLANTATION STYLE

My mom made awesome meals, her dinners were just fantastic, my friends that stayed for dinner didn't want to go home. I mean there was this one time, a neighborhood kid was sitting in our garage one evening just smelling the food my mom was cooking, the kid was the neighborhood punk so my dad chased his ass out of the garage, he sprinted fast, but I could tell he wanted to eat. Poor kid, his mom was a shitty ass cook. :(

One of the soups my mom made was an Onaga soup, or Red Snapper. Now most chefs here on the island would cringe at the thought of making Onaga soup, because most of these chefs are full of shit! They are all culinary… "What? Mrs. Sambrano just wasted a good fish?" Well mom knew what the hell she was doing. If she were alive, she'd throw it down with Bobby the Shitfaced Flay.

Here's an Onaga Soup Recipe.

1 whole onaga, cleaned. about 3 lbs.KEEP HEAD
10 cups of water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
6 large tomatoes crushed
2 large onions diced
2 bay leaves
5 cloves garlic crushed
3 inch ginger chopped
Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. The fish should be sectioned in about 4 pieces head as well as the tail section. Keep this on the side until the water and veggies are boiling.

2. Bring the water, vinegar, crushed tomatoes, diced onions, bay leaves, garlic and ginger to a boil, then lower heat to simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes.

3. Add in the fish pieces, and simmer the fish with the vegetable broth for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

NOTE: The Onaga is a very delicate fish, but mom would cook it just right, and the fish would still be intact. She would serve it in a large soup bowl with the eyes of the Onaga staring at you. But guess what? That soup was very good, the flavor wasn't too strong, and it didn't make the house smell like fish, the ginger and onions mitigated that aroma.

Until next time have a great life!

Ron Sambrano

             

© 2014