Tuna Kinilaw

Kinilaw is Filipino dish you have as an appetizer just like the well known Filipino Lumpia spring rolls. You can use a variety of fish but for this recipe, we’ll use sashimi grade tuna to make this a Tuna Kinilaw. Although some people may think of it as the “Filipino Ceviche”, it’s culturally different. This is an easy recipe and a great dish to have to impress your guests. This is also my version of kinilaw, where I add bits of orange for sweetness.

If you're looking for other Filipino dishes, check out this beef salpicao recipe, these adobo chicken wings, or this lumpia recipe which come from my grandmother!

Jump to:

• How Is Kinilaw Different From Ceviche?
• Ingredients
• How To Make This Recipe
• No Leftovers
• Variations Of This Dish
• FAQ
• Tuna Kinilaw

How Is Kinilaw Different From Ceviche?

Kinilaw, although it has similarities to the the Peruvian ceviche, it has its own identity and history. Kinilaw is a way of preparing food in Filipino cuisine by “cooking” with acidity either from vinegar or acidic fruits instead of heat. According to Food Philippines, “Research has shown that Kinilaw predates the colonial period in the Philippines.”

Ingredients

• Sashimi grade fish: Because the fish will be “cooked” in the vinegar and citrus, it’s best to use high grade fish. This recipe uses tuna, but you can also use mackerel.
• Vinegar: I like to use coconut vinegar, which I know can be hard to find in your supermarkets. If you’re committed, you can find some on Amazon. My second choice is apple cider vinegar - it’s accessible and the sweetness works well. Third choice would be white distilled vinegar, which works perfectly fine!
• Unsweetened coconut cream: Make sure you get the unsweetened coconut cream. The texture is thicker than coconut milk, and works well for this recipe. Before adding it to your marinade, make sure to either strain the coconut cream or pour into a bowl and whisk until it’s homogenous so that you won’t have any coconut cream lumps in your final dish.
• Lime juice: Typically we use a citrus called calamansi which is a small tart citrus that has the acidity of a lemon or lime but the essence of a tangerine, if that make any sense! Because it’s difficult, yet almost impossible to find calamansi that isn’t in concentrate form in the US, so we’re opting for lime juice instead.
• Ginger: you’ll want to use about a knob of ginger that makes about a teaspoon when grated. Best to use a microplane for this and if you don’t have one, using a grater with the smallest holes will do.
• Chilies: Thai chilies is what is used here, and because of its spice level you don’t need a lot. If you can’t find Thai chilies, you can use a jalapeño and slice it finely.
• Red Onion: Use a half of a small red onion and dice it up.
• Orange: This is not traditional, just my unique touch to this dish! I find adding small pieces of orange balances the dish well with an added sweetness, which almost serves as a palate cleanser! To prepare this, segment an orange and cut each segment into little pieces.
• Cilantro: top the dish with garnish, which is totally optional.
• Chicharron: Also known as pork rinds. Totally optional but adds flavor and texture to the dish.

How To Make This Recipe

Mise en place: It’s always good practice to prep all your ingredients beforehand so that you can focus on making your meal. Plus most of the time, it’s the hardest part of the recipe! The ingredients list above gives more detail on how to prep each ingredient, but here is a summary of some noteworthy ones:

• Tuna: cut your tuna in half inch cubes.
• Coconut Cream: if your coconut cream is clumpy, run it through a strainer or pour into a bowl and whisk until it’s homogenous.
• Ginger: grate your ginger using a microplane.
• Red onion: dice half of a small onion.
• Orange: Supreme or segment your orange like this. And then cut in smaller pieces, about ¼ of an inch.
• Chicharron: crush into bits with your hands.

5. Plating is my favorite part of making this Tuna Kinilaw (aside from eating of course!). Get a serving bowl or an individual bowl and add the fish and some more of the marinade, add the small segments of oranges around for extra sweetness, sprinkle crushed pork rinds for crunch, and cilantro for garnish.

No Leftovers

Tuna Kinilaw is best served right away. After 30 minutes, the texture of the fish changes because the acid will “cook” the fish as time goes by. So best to eat everything that day. I doubt there will be any leftover of this anyway!

Variations Of This Dish

• Fish: It’s traditionally made with mackerel, so you can opt for that if you have it.
• Coconut cream: Not all kinilaws have coconut cream, some only use vinegar and citrus.
• Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar.
• Fruit: Swap the orange for another fruit like mango for example.
• Crunchy topping: Omit the chicharron if you’re not into it.

FAQ

Can I make this in advance?

If you’re expecting guest, you can prepare the fish and the marinade separately and 10 mins before you’re ready to eat, mix them together and plate.

Do I have to "rinse" my fish in vinegar first?

You might see other recipes out there requiring you to wash your fish in vinegar first, but if your fish is sashimi grade you won’t need to.