Tinapa, aFilipino term, isfish cooked or preserved through the process ofsmoking. It is a native delicacy in thePhilippines and is often made fromblackfin scad (Alepes melanoptera, known locally asgalunggong), or frommilkfish, which is locally known asbangus.
It is produced and sold traditionally or prepared at home.Tinapa recipe mainly involves the process of washing machine the fish and putting it in brine for an extended amount of time (usually 5 – 6 hours), air drying and finally smoking the fish. The fish species which are commonly used for makingtinapa could either begalunggong (scads) orbangus (milkfish).[1][2]
The termtinapa means "prepared by smoking". The root wordtapa inPhilippine languages originally meant fish or meat preserved bysmoking. In theSpanish Philippines, it came to refer to meats (moderntapa) preserved by other means. It is derived fromProto-Malayo-Polynesian*tapa, which in turn is derived fromProto-Austronesian*Capa.[3][4]
The termtinapa has also come to apply to moderncanned sardines intomato sauce, even though canned sardines are not always prepared by smoking.
