''Kinilaw'' ( or , literally "eaten raw") is a raw seafood dish and preparation method native to the Philippines. It is also referred to as Philippine ceviche due to its similarity to the Latin American dish ceviche. It is more accurately a cooking process that relies on vinegar and acidic fruit juices (usually citrus) to Denaturation (biochemistry), denature the ingredients, rather than a dish, as it can also be used to prepare meat and vegetables. ''Kinilaw'' dishes are usually eaten as appetizers before a meal, or as finger food ( tl, pulutan) with alcoholic drinks. ''Kilawin'' is a meat, meat-based preparation method quite similar but not the same as ''kinilaw'', though the names can sometimes be used interchangeably. It is more common in the northern Philippines and uses Blanching (cooking), blanched and lightly Grilling, grilled meat (not raw).

Description

The most common ''kinilaw'' dish is ''kinilaw na isda'' ("fish ''kinilaw''") prepared using raw cubed fish mixed with vinegar (usually coconut vinegar or cane vinegar) as the primary Denaturation (biochemistry), denaturing agent; along with a souring agent to enhance the tartness like calamondin, ''calamansi'', ''key lime, dayap'', ''Citrus micrantha, biasong'', ''Averrhoa bilimbi, kamias'', tamarind, green mangoes, ''carambola, balimbing'', and green ''Spondias purpurea, sineguelas''. It is flavored with salt and spices like black pepper, ginger, onions, and chili peppers (commonly ''siling labuyo'' or bird's eye chili). An average serving of fish kinilaw contains just 147 calories. To neutralize the fishy taste and acidity before serving, juice extracts from the grated flesh of ''tabon-tabon'', ''Heritiera littoralis, dungon'', or young coconuts are also commonly added. Extracts from the bark scrapings of ''Spondias purpurea, sineguelas'' or ''bakawan'' trees (''Rhizophora'' mangroves) are also used similarly. Some regional variants also include ''gatâ'' (coconut milk), sugar, or even soft drinks to reduce the sourness. Fish are primarily used, ranging from ''tanigue'' or ''tangigue'' (Spanish mackerels, king mackerel, or wahoo), ''malasugi'' (marlins or swordfish), yellowfin tuna, ''tambakol'', milkfish, ''bangus'', shark, and anchovies. Other viands include shrimp, squid, clams, oysters, crabs, sea urchin roe, seaweed, jellyfish, shipworms (''tamilok'') or even Beetle#Larva, beetle larvae. Seafood must be fresh and properly cleaned, mitigating health hazards involved with consuming raw seafood. Some like squid, however, must be blanched to tenderize the flesh.

Ensalada

''Kinilaw'' also refers to dishes using raw fruits and vegetables marinated in vinegar and spices, in which case the dishes are sometimes referred to by the Spanish term ''ensalada'' ("salad"). Examples include cucumber, ''pipino'', bitter melon, ''ampalaya'', young sweet potato, ''camote'' leaves, young ''papaya'', vegetable fern, ''pako'', and banana flowers.

Kilawin

Variants predominantly from Luzon use meat (usually called ''kilawin'' to distinguish them from other ''kinilaw''), including goat meat, beef, carabao, pork, and chicken. Unlike fish ''kinilaw'', meat ''kilawin'' are not eaten raw but are cooked by boiling or grilling or both. They are usually done Doneness, rare to medium rare, though in some cases the meat are fully cooked. Meat-based ''kilawin'' are also traditionally eaten with ''papaít'' (literally "bittering agent"), usually bile extracted from the gall bladder or by squishing chewed grass from an animal's stomach. Like ''kinilaw'', the partly cooked meat is prepared fresh and properly cleaned.

History

''Kinilaw'' is native to the Philippines. The Balangay archaeological excavation site in Butuan (dated c. 10th to 13th century AD) has uncovered remains of halved ''tabon-tabon'' fruits and fish bones cut in a manner suggesting that they were cubed, thus indicating that the cooking process is at least a thousand years old. It was also described by Spanish colonists and explorers to the Philippines, with the earliest mention being in the ''Vocabulario de la lengua tagala'' (1613) as ''cqinicqilao'' and ''cquilao'', a Hispanicization, Hispanicized spelling of the Visayan languages, Visayan verb ''kilaw'' ("to eat raw"), and a cognate of the adjective ''hilaw'' ("raw", "uncooked", or "unripe"). Other sources that mention it include the ''Vocabulario de la lengua Pampanga en romance'' (1732) as ''quilao''; and in the 1754 edition of ''Vocabulario de la lengua tagala'' as ''quilauin''. Unlike Latin American ceviches, which exclusively use citrus juices (which are not native to the Americas), ''kinilaw'' instead primarily uses a combination of vinegar and citrus (native to tropical Asia), and other acidic fruit juices.

Regional names and variants

Some of the oldest surviving ''kinilaw'' variants are from the southern Visayas and Northern Mindanao, like Cagayan de Oro's ''kinilaw'' (sometimes stylized as ''kinilaw de Oro'') and Dumaguete's ''binakhaw''. Both are direct descendants of ancient Visayans, Visayan preparation methods as displayed in the Butuan archeological finds. These are the original versions that use ''tabon-tabon'' and ''Heritiera littoralis, dungon'' fruits respectively. Several regions of the Philippines have local specialties or names of ''kinilaw'' dishes. In the northern Philippines, the Ivatan people of the Batanes islands refer to ''kinilaw'' as ''lataven''. Ivatan fish ''kinilaw'' is known as ''lataven a among'' (also spelled ''lataven a amung''). In Ilocos, the Ilocano people, Ilocano ''kilawin kalding'' or ''kilawen'' specifically refers to lightly grilled goat meat ''kinilaw''. Among the Kapampangan people of Pampanga, ''quilain'' (also spelled ''kilayen'' or ''kilayin'') or ''quilain babi'' refers to ''kinilaw'' that use fully cooked pork, heart, liver, and tripe. A similar dish among the Cavite, Caviteño Tagalog people, Tagalogs uses fully boiled Pig's ear (food), pork ears, and is known as ''kulao'' or ''kilawin na tainga ng baboy''. When mixed with fried ''tokwa'' (tofu) cubes, ''kulao'' becomes the more familiar dish ''tokwa't baboy''. Modern variants of this dish use soy sauce in addition to the other ingredients. In the southern Philippines, the Tausug people of the Sulu archipelago, Sulu islands refer to fish ''kinilaw'' as ''lawal''. Unlike other ''kinilaw'' dishes, ''lawal'' usesvinegar to wash the fish, and uses citrus fruits and other souring agents to denature the fish meat. Among the Sama-Bajau people, it is known as ''kilau'' or ''kinilau'' and sometimes includes unripe mangoes as a souring agent. Among the Maranao people of southwestern Mindanao, ''biyaring'' is a type of ''kinilaw'' made with tiny shrimp. It is a regional favorite and is notable because it is ideally prepared while the shrimp are still alive. A common way of serving ''kinilaw'' in the islands of Visayas and Mindanao is ''sinuglaw'', which combines fish ''kinilaw'' (usually tuna) and charcoal-grilled pork belly (''sinugba''). File:Kinilaw (Philippine raw fish in citrus juices and vinegar).jpg, ''Kinilaw na malasugi''
(marlin) File:Fish kinilaw.JPG, ''Kinilaw na malasugi''
(marlin) File:Vikings Kinilaw, At Vikings Megamall.jpg, Fish ''kinilaw'' with chili flakes File:Ensaladang Lato (Seaweed Salad) - Philippines 2.jpg, ''Kinilaw na latô''
(Caulerpa lentillifera, sea grapes) File:Gatapusojf1764.JPG, ''Kilawin na pusô ng saging''
(banana flowers) File:Camote tops (talbos ng kamote).jpg, ''Kinilaw nga galay sa camote''
(sweet potato, camote leaves) File:Tokwa't Baboy 2.jpg, ''Tokwa't baboy''
(''kilawin'' of pork & tofu) File:Ensaladang kangkong (morning glory salad, Philippines).jpg, ''Ensaladang kangkong''
(water spinach)

References