The Very Versatile Sardine

This is a story of the very versatile sardine. Saper yg tak kenal sardin? I think everyone in M'sia knows. Sardines have become the must-have food for students living in hostels, the bachelors who stayed in a place with no refrigerator, campers, families who keep some stock just in case there's no time to do grocery shopping, or anyone on a tight budget. Any more? I can't think of any right now. If sardine is not imported, I think someone should go make sardine a national food or something.

I still remember once (in hostel a very very long time ago) I can't sleep until 3 a.m. and beginning to feel very hungry. Going out at 3 in the wee hours of morning to find food was out of question for many reasons. The only thing available is 1 can of sardine. No rice, no eggs, no onion, no cooking oil or I'm sure I can whip out something. So, sardine it is. I'm sure some people will grimace at that because of the smell. They would squeeze lime juice to mask the smell but some smell will not be a put off especially when you're as famished as I was. Armed with a spoon and a can of sardine, I went slurp slurp at the sauce and chomp chomp on the sardine. Not forgetting to lick inside the thin too hehehe... Lucky the tongue didn't get injured in the process :) I was almost starving then OK.

When I'm more civilized, sardines will turn to delicious dish. Let me list down what you can do with sardines. (The list is not inclusive of other sardine delicacies you can find at mamak stalls or bakery shops like Roti Sardin, Sardine Quiche, etc.) So here goes...

1. Straight from the tin
2. Straight from the tin with some sliced onions, chilli and lime juice
3. Sambal sardin
4. Sardin masak lemak cili api
5. Sardin masak kari
6. Sardin masak kicap
7. Sardin goreng

Hmm... I think the only sardine dish I've not tried is Sardin Sup and Rendang. Oh and maybe Sardin Masak Asam Pedas too :) Any more sardine dishes you have tried?

There is another sibling of sardine that most people I know do not differentiate and that's the mackerel. The sardine is softer than mackerel and both are definitely different kind of fish. The scientific names are:-

1. Sardines - Sardinops sagax
2. Spanish Mackerel - Scomberomorus maculatus

And here are some health facts about the two.

1. Sardines
2. Mackerel

There are some concerns about too much mercury in sardines but heck... it's not as if we had sardine dishes everyday. And it is mentioned here that the mercury level in sardines are negligible. So long live sardines that has become an important food to many Malaysians :)