Filipino Delicacy
Birabid
I spent my childhood in Marag, the eden then of the Philippines.
Birabid, photo by JMorton
Birabid, photo by JMorton
My young Manilanian palate was greatly challenged by exotic fare found in Marag. One I remember most were the birabids. Birabids are fresh water shellfish which we used to gather from our rice field just after the palay had been planted. They are tiny, the size of petit pois. They were easy to spot as they produce bubbles on the surface of the watery rice paddy.
They are washed and salted and left to ferment for at least a couple of days. They were eaten with boiled rice. I must admit the taste takes getting used to. I would say it was pretty disgusting at first because of its fishy and very salty taste, but you develop an appetite for it.
My mother does not like them so she did not use to make them but my Auntie Caring did and used to send a bowl of it for my father, who liked it. The birabids are eaten whole with their soft crunchy shells.
Lovely.
One for the bucket list: To try birabid again to see if it tastes just like I remember it.
True about the photo. Yes the taste of birabid is so distinct, you’ll remember it forever.
the salted birabids are to die for. i now live in vietnam but nowhere to be found. it is also hard to find a good picture to show them
Whilst living in Marag, 30 years ago, I have never heard of anyone getting sick because of eating birabid. But I supposed because of more and more insecticides and pesticides applied to rice fields, it is only matter of a time that birabids, among other things, are affected and can cause harm to humans, given that birabid are normally preserved in salt without being cooked first.