Filipino Style Air Fried Bangus Teriyaki Recipe

Published on March 27, 2024

by April Bewell

Hello, my little munchkins! Are you ready to kick your flippers up and cook something different for dinner tonight? Then look no further than this Air Fried Bangus Teriyaki – it’ll transport you right to the Philippine beaches without ever leaving the kitchen. The Filipino-style teriyaki sauce allows me to inject bold flavor into simple ingredients without much fuss.

Bangus, also known as milkfish, is a mild and flaky white fish common in Asian cooking. It soaks up flavors beautifully without becoming fishy. It’s fat and creamy, and we Filipinos will fight over the Bangus belly if we’re eating with family. It’s popular too, around this time when Filipinos observe the Semana Santa or Holy Week and most of us don’t eat meat the entire week, especially on Good Friday.

The teriyaki sauce is the star of the show here. With just a few pantry staples like soy sauce, ginger, garlic and brown sugar, it achieves that perfect balance of savory, sweet and tangy in one taste. Feel free to customize it to your tastes – I like my sauce on the sweeter side.

Not as showy, but marinating it in mirin, an umami bomb beloved from sushi bars to kinilaw, makes all the difference. This balances bangus’ natural delicacy with subtle sweet-savory notes. It also emoves the fishiness and adds a sweetish flavor that is almost like the Japanese saba fish.

By air frying the fish instead of pan frying, you get all the flaky fish without nearly as much oil. The convection heat crisps the outside to a golden brown while keeping the inside moist and tender. A quick toss in the tasty teriyaki ties it all together. And let’s admit it, frying bangus in oil on a pan can result to lots of blisters if you’re not careful.

How To Prepare Bangus Teriyaki

I start by butterflying and deboning two pieces of bangus, about 1/2 kilo each. A sharp knife and patience is key here since our fish bones can be tiny. Rinsing well and patting dry with paper towels is important for crispy skin later. Then it’s a quick 10 minute marinade in mirin to add moisture back.

Meanwhile, I whisk together the teriyaki sauce ingredients of soy sauce, sake, water, brown and white sugars, garlic and ginger in a saucepan. Bring it just to a boil to dissolve everything before removing from heat. Straining ensures a smooth, not chunky sauce later.

Once marinade time is up, I pat the fish very dry again and sprinkle just a touch of salt over the flesh. Then it goes skin side down into my air fryer basket, lightly misted with oil. 15 minutes at 180C later and the skin is golden brown perfection!

In no time, you’ve got a delicious dinner your pod will praise the shell for. Best of all, clean up is a breeze since it’s cooked in one basket. Be sure to pack leftovers for lunch tomorrow – the flavors only get better!

Let me know if you and your little scallop try this recipe. To get more crowd-pleasing weekly menus, sign up for my newsletter below. Until next time!