FST 140 FOOD FERMENTATION PROCESSES

FERMENTED FOOD PRODUCT: TINAPAYAN

Submitted by: Sitti N. Mamogkat

Date Submitted: October 6, 2011

Submitted to: Prof. Dulce M. Flores, PhD

Tinapayan is a fish fermented product gone through two fermentation processes. The first fermentation process is the making of Tapay which is used as starter for the second fermentation which is the making of tinapayan. Tinapayan has a very strong and interesting aroma which a person who has never eaten it would describe it as dead rat smell and has a salty and biting taste, it is an essential food for Maguindanaons. During the olden days, the Maguindanaons bring with them Tinapayan whenever they explore uncharted lands in Mindanao. They bring with them Tinapayan because it is a kind of food that does not spoil easily, since it is fermented. Maguindanaon women prepare this food before the Maguindanaon men start their travel. Today, elderly Maguindanaon women are the only ones who still know how to make Tinapayan. It is because, during the olden days, it is a duty of every Maguindanaon women to know how to make Tinapayan. The mothers teach their female children, and later on, their female children would teach it to their female children, generation to generation. During this time, it is treated as taboo if a Maguindanaon woman does not know how to make Tinapayan. Only now, when, primarily, the Maguindanaon sovereignty has died out that only the elderly Maguindanaon women has the knowledge of how to make Tinapayan. Today, it is still common to see Tinapayan (contained in a plastic container) on dining tables of a lot of Maguindanaon families. And most of them are bought in the marketplace, but some also produce them homemade. It is best eaten with just plain rice. To make Tinapayan, tapay should be made first. A tapay is fermented rice, and it is used as starter for Tinapayan fementation. Tapays have glutinous rice and a biting taste with a faint sweet taste. Tapays are wrapped in alm leaves (Maguindanaon term) or in Visayan term alum leaves. Even today, alm trees are seen everywhere. Tapays are considered as another Maguindanaon delicacy since it can be eaten and sold as it is.

Making of Tapay: Ingredients: Tapay Powder- it is a powdered rice grain mixed with siling labuyo. Siling labuyo should be sundried before mixing. (1 kg rice grain:2 cups of siling labuyo) Basically, tapay powder are bought in the marketplace, in a small round form (a little bigger than a palm of a hand) wrapped in a cellophane. According to Hadja Farida M. Mohammad, a Tinapayan producer and seller, only skilled producer can produce successful tapay powder. It is said that they use incantations as its key to successful produce of tapay powder. Cooked plain rice- preferably M-1 rice. According to Mrs. Mohammad, tapays would not be made using high quality rice like Banaybanay or Masipag rice.

White Sugar

Materials: Bilao Alm leaves or alum leaves- from alum trees which can be found anywhere.

Figure 1. Alm leaves or alum leaves.

Procedure: 1. Put freshly cooked rice equally on the bilao and let it cool for a couple of minutes.

Figure 2. Freshly cooked plain M-1 rice.

Figure 3. Freshly cooked rice equally distributed on a bilao.

2. Sprinkle tapay powder on the rice. Sprinkle white sugar also as flavoring. Mix mixture thoroughly afterwards.

Figure 4. Making sure that tapay powder is pulverized enough for sprinkling.

Figure 5. Sprinkling tapay powder on the rice. Sugar is added later on. Mixture is mixed afterwards. This can be called tapay.

3. Wrap tapay by putting cup of tapay on every 2 alm leaves. Inner alm leaf should be smaller than the outer alm leaf for efficient wrapping.

Figure 6. Putting on tapay rice for wrapping.

Figure 7. Molding tapay rice into square shape. Tapays are known to always have square shape.

Figure 9. Tapay rice being molded into its square shape before entirely wrapping it.

Figure 10. Tapay rice being wrapped by folding the sides of the leaves one over the other side.

Figure 11. Wrapped tapays.

4. Wrap tapays in any thick cloth that will bring heat for the fermentation process An indication that the fermentation process is successful is if

Figure 12. Tapays being wrapped in a newspaper. Wrapping with a newspaper is not necessary as long as tapays are wrapped in any thick cloth that will let tapays perspire due to heat.

Figure 13. Wrapping tapays with a thick towel.

Figure 14. Tapays wrapped with thick towel.

5. Store tapays in a dry place for at least 12 hours or overnight for fermentation process.

Figure 15. Tapays wrapped heavily to induce perspiration placed inside an inactive refrigerator. Some producers put the tapays in a carton to bring a tight wrap during fermentation process.

6. Open tapays from wrappings. Tapays are warm after the fermentation process due to thick wrappings. Tapays have glutinous rice and biting taste with faint sweet taste. Tapays will then proceed for the Tinapayan fermentation process.

Figure 16. A finished Tapay product.

Making of Tinapayan: Ingredients: Tapay Dalag/Sundried Mudfish (Do not wash dalag.)

Figure 17. Dalag or sundried mudfish 5 pcs. Tanglad/Lemongrass

Figure 18. 5 pcs sliced tanglad or lemongrass. 5 Big ginger pieces (sliced)

Figure 19. Sliced ginger pieces in a bowl. Salt Sugar

Materials: Mixing bowl Plastic containers

Procedure: 1. Unwrap the tapays from alm leaves. Put tapays in a mixing bowl and add room temperature water. (5 tapays:1 cup of water) Add sugar, salt and sliced gingers for flavoring. 2. Put sufficient pieces of dalag in the plastic container. Add tanglad for flavoring.

Figure 20. Dalag in a container. 3. Fill the container with the mixture from procedure no. 1.

Figure 21. Dalag with the tinapayan mixture in a tightly closed container. 4. Store Tinapayan in a dry and dark place for 1 week for fermentation process.

Figure 22. Tinapayan stored for fermentation process. 5. Get the dalag fish and drain the mixture after fermentation. The dalag fish is fried without using oil. During frying, it is okay to break the dalag meat into pieces. Do not let the meat of fish to entirely dry. Fry adequately. 6. Tinapayan is ready to be served and eaten.

Figure 23. A finished tinapayan product after being fried.

Source: Hadja Farida M. Mohammad - tinapayan producer and seller interviewed on August 25, 2011