Fish for Breakfast (or Dinner) at Chowking - Anaheim

We Americans are finicky about what we eat the first thing in the morning.

Bacon? Yes, absolutely.

Pepperoni? Hell no!

Fish? Are you insane?!

Filipinos, though, have no qualms about having a big old stinky fish--with the head still attached even--as breakfast, paired with fried rice and a fried egg. The fish is usually bangus, a.k.a, milkfish, a species beloved by Pinoys and Indonesians alike for its inherent yogurt-like tang.

This is not a mild fish. It's, well, fishy. Bangus is a fish that tastes like fish should, less oily than mackerel, but richer in flavor than salmon, and with a thousand comb-like bones if you eat it straight out of the water unprocessed.

When you have it at a Filipino restaurant, it won't have any bones. Called daing na bangus, it will be bifurcated lengthwise, marinated in vinegar and garlic, and deep fried golden brown so that the flesh can be easily scooped up with a spoon.

And at the new Chowking in Anaheim, part of the Jollibee conglomerate, a silog (egg and fried rice) breakfast plate combo containing it and another meat, say pork tocino, can be had at any time of the day...which automatically makes it more palatable for those who shudder at eating fish for breakfast but yet have no problems with eating eggs for dinner.

Chowking
601 N Euclid St.
Anaheim, CA 92801

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
The Globe Dine Bar - Garden Grove