Patis & Bagoong

Raw Material and Utensils:

• fresh fish plastic basin
• salt - coarse or semi-refined colander
• wooden ladle
• jars - wide mouth (garapon - plastic or glass)
• cheesecloth
• rubber bands

Procedure:

1. Use fresh raw materials such as dilis, galunggong, tamban, tunsoy, or small shrimps (alamang, acetes sp.).
2. Mix thoroughly 1 part salt to 3 parts washed and drained fish (by weight). Transfer into wide mouth jars and cover with cheesecloth bound by rubber band.
3. Allow to ferment for at least six months or longer until it develops the characteristic flavor and aroma of bagoong. Stir once a week for the first 2 months, then once a month thereafter.
4. For fish sauce or patis, continue fermentation until the solids settle and liquid collects on top of the mixture. (4 - 6 months more)
5. Decant the sauce and filter. Set aside as premium extract.
6. To the fish residue, add an equal amount (by weight) of saturated brine solution (one part salt to two parts water by weight [1:2]) with 0.1% sodium benzoate (1 gram per kilogram brine) then let it age for 2-4 weeks.
7. The resulting sauce is drained and filtered to produce the 2nd extract.
8. The residue is again combined with an equal weight of saturated brine solution with 0.1% sodium benzoate and aged 2-4 weeks.
9. The resulting sauce is again filtered to produce the 3rd extract and the residue discarded.
10. The extracted patis is usually bottled while the bagoong may be bottled or canned.
    

Note: A commercial patis combination may be blended from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd extracts. See Table 1 as reference.

TABLE 1. QUALITY GRADES OF PATIS*
EXTRACT CATEGORY SPECIFICATION
1st SPECIAL 8% PROTEIN (minimum)
2nd REGULAR 4% PROTEIN (minimum)
3rd PATIS FLAVOR 1% PROTEIN (minimum)

Source: Philippine National Standards for Fish Sauce