Crackers from the Sea

The Philippine green mussel, locally popular as "tahong", is known to all Filipinos. It is rich in iodine, iron, phosphorus, calcium, carbohydrates, protein and vitamins A, B, B2 and C.


Also known as the Asian green bay mussel, tahong is affordably cheap and has a good nutritive value. It can be prepared and served in different ways such as tinolang tahong, adobong tahong, baked tahong and ginataang tahong among others.


In Samar, in the town of Jiabong, tahong is widely cultured. It has been considered as the "Tahong Capital of the Philippines" with more than 3,000 hectares of potential mussel farms, with around 160-200 hectares devoted for tahong farming in Jiabong, and supplies the biggest volume of tahong toManila, Cebu and Davao.


With the large supply available, residents of Jiabong took advantage of this and were able to process them into tahong crackers. Tahong crackers contain no preservatives and no artificial ingredients. It is made from ground tahong flesh mixed with spices, flour and deep fried in oil (but some might not like it as it smells of rancid oil!).



To make your own tahong crackers, follow this simple recipe:
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp chopped tahong
  • 1 cup flour, shifted
  • ¼ tsp vetsin
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp white pepper
  • 2 ½ - 3 tbsp cold water or tahong broth
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • oil for frying
Procedure  1. Steam the tahong, extract the meat and remove the byssi's.
  2. Chop the tahong meat.
  3. Combine all dry ingredients and add the tahong broth or water gradually.
  4. Knead and run through the noodle machine.
  5. Cut into desired length.
  6. Deep fat fry.