U a

KILAWIN / KINILAW RECIPE

(FILIPINO CEVICHE,
PHILIPPINES)
BY AILEEN ADALID | RECIPES | 42 COMMENTS

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As a traveler, I always take the time to

learn a country’s local cuisine; hence the
reason why recipe posts like this exist on
this travel blog — besides, food is a part
of travel after all! And for today, I am
introducing you to a dish that is from my
home country, the Philippines, and it’s
called kilawin or kinilaw. (Kinilaw
Recipe)

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Kaw / Kaw
Recipe
» TRIVIA: The terms kilawin and
kinilaw are used interchangeably
— but to be more precise, the
former (kilawin) is used to refer to
a kinilaw-style dish in which the
‘meat’ has already been blanched
or lightly cooked by heat or grill,
whereas the latter (kinilaw) is the
kind of dish that makes use of
raw meat or ingredients like fish.
.
For the sake of uniformity, I will
use the term kinilaw for the rest of
this post.

Kinilaw is considered an appetizer

much like Latin America’s ceviche or
seviche (you can think of it as the
Filipino version of ceviche). In fact, there
are a lot of ceviche variants from all over
the world but this version from the
Philippines is something that you must
try.

···

Though most would think of this dish as

an appetizer, for Filipinos it is more
commonly used as a side dish during
beer-drinking sessions, referred to as
“pulutan“. Its preparation is different
too! After all, if most ceviche recipes are
normally soaked in citrus juices, kinilaw
is rather soaked in vinegar.

Rest assured, both of these processes

will ‘cook‘ the seafood because the acid
will change its protein structure. If you
ask me, it’s actually an amazing
transformation when you see the fish
change from translucent pink to opaque
white! Additionally, I like the Filipino
“kinilaw na isda” better than ceviche
since it takes away more of the
‘fishiness’.

But YES — the best part about this

kinilaw recipe is that it is so EASY to
prepare and it doesn’t involve cooking at
all! There is really no need to put up a
fire, and any cooking-challenged
individual won’t have a hard time
perfecting this dish either.

Some additional tips to ensure that you

make the best kinilaw is to ensure that
you acquire FRESH fish. It’s also
important that you maintain a good
ratio between the vinegar and the fresh
fish; but no worries because the kinilaw
recipe that I have below will give you
that perfect ratio. Enjoy!

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···

Kilawin or Kinilaw
Recipe (Filipino
Ceviche)
yield: 4 prep time: 10 MINUTES

cook time: 30 MINUTES

total time: 40 MINUTES

Create an interesting appetizer

with this Filipino version of
ceviche!

4.8 Stars (18 Reviews)

PRINT

SAVE

···

Ingredients
» Kinilaw
500 grams fresh yellowfin tuna
fillet, cut into cubes (see *Note
1)
3/4 cup vinegar (for washing)
1/3 cup vinegar (or spiced
vinegar if you have one)
1 red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of ginger, sliced
into fine strips or small cubes
4 tablespoons of Filipino
calamansi (you can also use
lime or lemon as a substitute)
Salt and freshly ground black
pepper to taste

» Garnishes
3 pieces Thai chili or bird’s eye
chili, chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon of sugar
(optional)
1 tomato, diced (optional)

Instructions
1. Prepare all of the ingredients.
2. Get a bowl and combine the
cubed fish and the 3/4 cup
vinegar. Mix them well and let
them stand for 2 minutes.
Afterward, drain the vinegar
while slightly squeezing out
the fish cubes.
— This ‘washing’ procedure will
help reduce the fishy smell.
3. Now, combine all the
remaining ingredients. Gently
toss until all are well blended.
4. Cover and place inside the
fridge for at least 30 minutes.
— It’s fine even if you chill it for
more time, but too much
might ‘overcook’ the fish. The
maximum time I would say is 3
hours!
5. Serve chilled. Share and enjoy
with a pairing of beer!

···

Notes

*Note 1: It’s best to use labahita or

Japan Surgeonfish, but yellowfin
tuna should work well. Otherwise,
you can also use deboned bangus
(milkfish) or tanigue (Spanish
mackerel).

···

Nutrition Information: Yield: 4

Serving Size: 1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 348

Total Fat: 9g Saturated Fat: 3g Trans Fat: 0g

Unsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 84mg

Sodium: 639mg Carbohydrates: 15g

Net Carbohydrates: 8g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 7g

Protein: 46g

The nutritional values indicated are merely an

estimate for the specified serving yield.

© Aileen Adalid

Cuisine: Filipino / Category: Recipes

···

•••
Kinilaw Recipe

Ovl
I hope this kinilaw recipe helped
you whip up an amazing
appetizer or pulutan!

Let me know in the comments

below.

···

•••
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42 COMMENTS
CHRIS CONCEPCION
Thanks for the recipe. Complete
ingredients aren’t complete
here, so I had to improvise a bit. I
used bottled lime juice, albacore
(white tuna), washed with plain
white vinegar and kinilaw with
white wine vinegar.
Nakakahinayang to use it just for
washing. Used dried chili flakes,
powdered garlic, powdered
ginger. I would have liked to
have fresh ginger, siling labuyo,
lemon grass and gata. You rock.

REPLY

AILEEN ADALID
I’m glad you managed to
make do with what you
have! (And I know what
you mean, fresh
ingredients are the best!)
Either way, I’m glad you
liked this guide :) Enjoy!

REPLY

JEN
I’ve been craving kinilaw for so
so long and I live in another
state from my family now, so
now I don’t get to have any! Now
I want to learn to make it for
myself and I don’t have many
choices of fish here…is salmon
okay to use?

REPLY

AILEEN ADALID
I hope this recipe can help
— and yes! You can use
salmon :D

REPLY

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