Sugpo sa Taba ng Talangka

Prawns in Crab Fat Sauce

Taba ng Talangka
I grew up eating taba ng talangka. That rich buttery “paste” made out of crab fat sautéed in garlic. By crab, I mean the small native scavenging crabs (talangka) that live in brackish water – near fish farms.

We used to get them from a neighbor, Manong Barenggot (we never got to ask him how he earned that nickname, or if it means anything). He was my grandmother’s fishmonger. He usually comes to our house during Tuesday afternoons, the same day he buys his supply of talangka from Malabon. He comes to our house with his wife carrying their most fancy lacquer tray with five to six small glass jars filled with the freshly cooked taba ng talangka, as if presenting a most exotic gift to royalty! And the queen would have to be my grandmother – his most important suki!

His version of taba ng talangka is not the same as the orange - colored paste you buy almost everywhere nowadays. It is cooked aligue in its purest form! Each of his jars contains bits of coagulated aligue suspended in a rich and golden garlic oil! And you can even make out some pieces of fried garlic in the oil.

On almost every meal, I would heap a spoonful of that orange “paste” on to my freshly steamed white rice, turning it a rich greasy orange. Move over Star Margarine! Some people like eating it with a sprinkling of lemon juice. My grandmother eats it with sinigang. I guess it works – sinigang takes the place of lemon juice? And every time I enjoy that rich treat, my grandmother always reminds me not to waste a single drop of taba ng talangka – as one whole bañera of talangka produces a mere three small bottles of aligue!

All good things come to an end. Some time during the early 90s, we received news that Manong Barenggot had died of stroke. And that marked the end of our aligue days. Never again would we taste authentic taba ng talangka. The canned and bottled ones we get from the supermarket and specialty shops have so much flour and bread as extenders! They are really nothing but artificially colored pastes! Yuck! And I actually wonder if it even contains real aligue.

God Bless Manong Barenggot for having let us taste the real taba ng talangka!

Sugpo sa Aligue
Our cook took a day off to attend her relative’s party in the province. She came back with a jar of taba ng talangka. Of course it is nothing compared the the taba ng talangka of my childhood, but I thought I would put it to good use by sautéing it with some prawns stocked up in my freezer anyway.

The success of this dish relies solely on two things: the taste and quality of the taba ng talangka; and the freshness of the prawns. If the aligue is good enough for you to eat, then it is good enough for this dish. Very little seasoning and dressing up is involved.

To prepare the prawns, peel the bodies, leaving the head and tails intact for purposes of presentation. You may discard them if you like. I used an entire kilogram of prawns for a bottle of aligue (around 1 cup).

On a pan, heat up three tablespoons of olive oil. Saute an entire head of chopped garlic - around three tablespoons. When the garlic is beginning to brown, throw in the prepared prawns. Toss them around to coat with the garlic oil. After a few seconds, deglaze the pan with two tablespoons of brandy/ cognac/ vodka/ white wine – whichever alcohol is available. Toss a few more times, then set aside on a plate or bowl. The prawns should be pink, but not cooked through. We just “seasoned” them at this point.

On the same pan, heat another two or so tablespoons of olive oil, then sauté another head of chopped garlic, plus a thumb-sized piece of ginger and a laurel leaf. Add the taba ng talangka. Again, add a splash of alcohol, and some water if the it is beginning to get too dry. Add back the prawns – juice and all and simmer until the prawns are cooked through, around five minutes. Adjust seasonings with some salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

To serve, arrange on a plate with the sauce and garnish with some more cracked black pepper and olive oil.

My grandmother makes this same dish but with coconut milk. It makes for a wonderful dish. But I think if you have really good aligue or fresh prawns, then very little dressing up is necessary. Besides, Ginataan sa Aligue would only necessitate the addition of several more spices leading to a more complicated stir-fry.

(garnish the dish with some more olive oil and cracked black pepper)