kinilaw

The Kindness of (Filipino) Strangers

I arrived in the Philippines keen to try kinilaw, a dish of protein (usually fish, but it may be otherwise) 'cooked' with a souring agent. Kinilaw could be considered one of the country's national dishes - there are as many variations as there are Philippine regions, perhaps even as many variations as there are Filipino cooks. My appetite for the dish had been whetted by a thorough reading of Edilberto Alegre and Doreen Fernandez' Kinalaw: A Cuisine of Freshness, a used copy of which a Filipino friend had kindly (or cruelly, considering the dearth of Philippine ingredients available in Kuala Lumpur) sent me months before, when we were preparing for our trip.

Cora was game, and served up a fantastic version made with mackerel, cane vinegar (other Philippine vinegars are made from nipa and coconut palms), kalamansi juice, lots of fragrant ginger, and tiny chilies called siling labuyu that are so wickedly hot they make Thai prik kee nuu seem seem like candy (opening photo). The balance of sour, spicy, and fruity (from the kalamansi) in this dish - not to mention the sparkling freshness of the fish - made this dish what Dave delicately terms a 'shoveller' (as in, you just want to keep shovelling it in). I could have eaten the whole bowlful, had I been left alone in the room with it.

But I had to leave room for a light, ginger-fragrant stew of mussels and green papaya.

Robyn Eckhardt

Read the full article at EatingAsia.com

Photo:  David Hagerman
© 2007

You say kilawin, I say kinilaw...

'Tis the season for pool parties, weekend trips to the beach and afternoons with the outdoor grill. Although in these Philippine islands we can really do all that throughout the year, summer is when it's foremost in our minds. We're always looking for relief from the heat, and it's such a shame to hide in air-conditioned rooms all day.

During past summers in Dumaguete, specifically during Easter, my cousins and I would often rent a balsa (bamboo raft) and let it float away from shore, where the water is cooler and deep enough to dive into. On other days we would take it a step further, rent a banca (outrigger) and head over to Sumilon island and dock at the sandbar there for the day. Food and drink were always overflowing. We brought coolers filled with beer and soda, and tupperwares that contained all sorts of pulutan (finger food or bar chow). So we would laze around on the white powdery beach, or bob along on inner tubes with a drink in our hands or by our side, and food everywhere. On those hot summer nights, we did pretty much the same thing except on land. We hung out, we ate, we drank, we had a great time.

A favorite pulutan then and now is kinilaw (or kilawin). It is light, refreshing and probably the healthiest pulutan you'll find in these shores. For the benefit of those who have not heard of kinilaw, it is basically fish steeped in vinegar in which it naturally "cooks". Similar to ceviche, kinilaw's South American cousin that I first learned about from my Peruvian best friend. Many different types of fish can be used for this such as tuna or tanigue and in this case, bangus (milk fish). What is important is the to clean the fish thoroughly and to eliminate all bones. In the Philippines, it is a staple in many restaurants and bars in the metropolis, though probably best loved by Filipinos eaten by the sea and washed down with a bottle of San Miguel Beer.

Christine Wuthrich
Read more at her blog, "ramblings from a gypsy soul"

Photo courtesy of the author
© 2007