Kinilaw is a Filipino seafood dish. A special dish for family gatherings and special occasions onboard. Almost all type of fish is good to make a Kinilaw, even the boniest Milk Fish is possible if you know how to handle it. Preferably fresh catch Tuna, Barracuda or King fish is the best thing to use for no heat is involve in this dish, although frozen whole fish of good quality is also safe to use. Needless to say, you already know what is best to serve with this dish…

Photo by Nino Almendra
Now on with the cooking…
Kinilaw
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Vinegar soaking/cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Good for 12 happy crew
You will need;
2 kgs. fresh fish Barracuda/Tuna/King Fish fillet, cut into cubes {I use a fresh catch Barracuda for this post.}
2 cups vinegar {or a little more to keep raw fish properly soaked}
200 grms. ginger, peeled and minced
200 grms. dry red onions, finely chopped
200 grms. tomato, finely chopped
400 grms. cucumber, coarsely peeled. Cut halve and quarter it lengthwise then cut thinly.
8 pcs. red/green chilli hot, thinly sliced{Optional, for not all can eat spicy Kinilaw}
1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions
100 ml. lemon or kalamansi juice {a little more or less defends on your taste}
2 Tbsp. sugar
Salt and freshly grounded black pepper
Direction;
If you are using frozen fish, thaw it inside the fridge below 4’C overnight. No need to descale the fish. Cut the fish head and pick the best part which is after the ribs and few inches before the tail, although all the fish meat can be use{Other fish parts can be cooked for other dish like Sinigang sa Kamatis}.
Using a fillet knife, run it through the meat avoiding the fishbones. Cut the fillet in half lenghtwise. Lay it flat on the chopping board, scale side down and carefully run the knife to remove the skin from the meat. Cut the fih fillet into cubes. Discard fish skin and fishbones. Transfer into a large mixing bowl.
Pour in the vinegar into the bowl of raw fish. Toss generously, making sure all raw fish is properly soaked in vinegar. Cover with plastic film wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
While waiting for the soaked fish in vinegar, you can start preparing the other ingredients. You might wanna keep some of these chopped ingredients for topping your Kinilaw before serving it later on.
Now after 30 minutes… Strain soaked fish and discard the used vinegar. Transfer into a larger mixing bowl, add all the chopped ingredients. Pour in the lemon/kalamansi juice. Season with sugar, salt and freshly grounded black pepper.
Transfer it to a serving dish, top with reserved chopped ingredients. Keep it cool and serve with extra slice of lemon or kalamansi.
Enjoy your meal !!! 😉
Here’s how I do it;
Fillet the Fish


Unfortunately I dont have a nice fillet knife onboard… But life must go on!





Cooking Raw Fish in Vinegar


The Final Step to Kinilaw








Enjoy your meal !!! 😉
Thanks alot for spending your precious time on my blog and hope this recipe
encourage you to try making some Kinilaw out of your fresh catch fish.
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Very nice recipe,thank you
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You are very welcome, Leovigilda!
Glad you like it! 🙂
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Mmmm, mmm good. This looks so delicious. It’s been such a long time since I had kinilaw. I think the best I ever had was in this little restaurant in Kiamba, So Cot https://goo.gl/maps/Z9czP made with barracuda. Delicious!
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Thanks Mike! We all need pleasure foods in between.
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Hi Nino! Thank you for the follow! 🙂 This recipe looks soo tasty! 🙂
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Thank you too! 🙂
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Looks delicious,I am useless at filleting fish but usually get the shop to do that for me.
We had angel fish for supper tonight just grilled with lemon juice.
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I feel so patriotic whenever I read your posts. Food is such a big part of being Filipino… I don’t think I’ve ever had this one before but looks super sarape.
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Thank you, Diahann! Indeed the Philippines is a Food Republic, we may disagree on a lot of things but when it come to good food, that is where we get united.
Thanks for visiting 🙂
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