Bantayan's Famous Buwad is the Best

By Jeanbeltran // Bantayan, bantayan island, buwad, buwad in bantayan, buwad pusit in bantayan, dried fish, fish tapa in bantayan // 2 Comments

There's no better way of preserving fish than drying it out by the heat of the great star. Dried fish or Buwad as what we call it in Cebuano language. Now Bantayan Island is not just famous with its white and long sand beaches; they also boast their dried fish. I had been a lover of it since I was young, when I was in my secondary years, my mother used to sell these boneless buwad danggit at a high price. I really can't recall the exact amount but i am pretty sure it was pricely. One of my mother's friends who used to live in Bantayan delivers the bags full of those before but eventually he stopped and my mother stopped selling them which was kind of sad but recently, I’m glad to finally see the market where those tasty buwad came from, Bantayan Public Market.

During our second day at Bantayan Island, we managed to visit Bantayan town for some pasalubongs which are of course the buwad. It is not because the Cebu market doesn't sell them but the main reason was because it is sold pretty cheap compared to the price in the city. I managed to buy three varieties of their buwad, the famous boneless danggit, buwad tapa and buwad pusit or nukus. The danggit is sold for Php 55 per 1/4 kilo, buwad tapa for Php 75 per 1/4 kilo and the buwad pusit / nukus for 150 per 1/4 kilo. You have the option to either buy those packed ones or get some from a container and let the seller weigh it for you.

The market full of dried fishes!!!

I don't usually buy these dried fish when I am in the city unless my brother who is in Dubai asks for it so I really don't know the pricing. When I went back, I researched about it and found out that the danggit is sold at Php 600-800 per kilo, buwad tapa at Php 400-500 per kilo and the buwad nukus at 600-800 per kilo. Astonishing right? And by the way, prices may vary depending on the weather too!

We were all set! Got our pasalubongs ready!

And the most exciting part is cooking them; I made a mistake with my first try because I set the fire too high that it burned them. So be sure to set the fire as low as possible when cooking these yummy things. I had eaten some of it and well in fairness; I fell in love with the fish tapa! It has a sweet taste but with some kind of saltiness on it. It was perfect to my taste buds, salute to the Bantayanons who had prepared them for us! The best!!!