''Kinilaw'' ( or , literally "eaten raw") is a raw

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

dish and preparation method native to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It is more accurately a cooking process that relies on vinegar and acidic fruit juices (usually

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

) to 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 Finger foods are small, individual portions of food that are eaten out of hand. They are often served at social events. The ideal finger food usually does not create any mess (such as crumbs or drips), but this criterion is often overlooked in o ...

() with

alcoholic drink Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s. Kinilaw is also sometimes called ''

kilawin or Kilawen is a Filipino cuisine, Filipino dish of chopped or sliced meats, poultry, seafood, or vegetables typically eaten as an appetizer before a meal, or as finger food with alcoholic drinks. is commonly associated with the Ilocano peop ...

'', especially in the northern Philippines, but the term ''kilawin'' more commonly applies to a similar lightly grilled meat dish.

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 denaturing agent; along with a souring agent to enhance the tartness like ''calamansi'', '' dayap'' (key lime), '' biasong'' (also known as ''suhà''), '' kamias'' (bilimbi),

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

, green

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

es, '' balimbing'', and green '' sineguelas''. It is flavored with salt and spices like

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, and

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

s (commonly the '' siling labuyo'' cultivar). 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'', '' dungon'', or young coconuts are also commonly added.

Tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

-rich extracts () from the bark scrapings of ''bakawan'' trees ('' Rhizophora'' mangroves) or '' sineguelas'' are also used similarly. Some regional variants also include ''gatâ'' ( coconut milk), sugar, or even

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

s to balance the sourness. Fish are primarily used, ranging from ''tanigue'' or ''tangigue'' (

Spanish mackerel Scomberomorini is a tribe of ray-finned, saltwater, bony fishes that is commonly known as Spanish mackerels, seerfishes, or seer fish. This tribe is a subset of the mackerel family (Scombridae), which it shares with four sister tribes, the tu ...

s, king mackerel, or wahoo), ''malasugi'' ( marlins or

swordfish The swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as the broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are the sole member of the Family (biology), family Xiphiidae. They ...

), ''tambakol'', ''bangus'', shark, and anchovies. Other variants include shrimp, squid, clams, oysters, crabs, sea urchin roe, seaweed, jellyfish, shipworms (''tamilok''), or even 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 ''pipino'' (cucumber), ''ampalaya'' (bitter melon), young ''camote'' leaves, young '' papaya'', ''pako'' (fern), and banana flowers.

History

Kinilaw is native to the Philippines. The balangay archaeological excavation site in Butuan (dated c. 10th to 13th century AD) 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 Hispanicized spelling of the Visayan verb ''kilaw'' ("to eat raw"), and a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

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 The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

and

Northern Mindanao Northern Mindanao (; Maranao language, Maranao: ''Pangotaraan Mindanao''; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region X. It comprises five Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Bukidnon, ...

, like

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...

's kinilaw (sometimes stylized as ''kinilaw de Oro'') and Dumaguete's ''binakhaw''. Both are direct descendants of ancient Visayan preparation methods as displayed in the Butuan archeological finds. These are the original versions that use tabon-tabon and dungon fruits respectively. Several regions of the Philippines have local specialties or names of ''kinilaw'' dishes. In Northern Luzon, particularly among the

Ilocano people The Ilocano people (), also referred to as Ilokáno, Iloko, Iloco, Iluku, or Samtoy, are an Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnolinguistic group native to the Philippines. Originally from the Ilocos Region, located on the northwestern coa ...

, ''kinilaw'' is commonly referred to as ''kilawin'' or ''kilawen''. Among Ilocanos, however, the term ''kilawen'' is understood as a method of food preparation that encompasses a variety of raw, lightly cooked, or cured dishes, including those traditionally classified as ''kinilaw''. These dishes are typically prepared using raw, lightly grilled, or boiled meat or seafood, marinated in sugarcane vinegar (sukang Iloko) or citrus juices such as calamansi or dayap. The most commonly used ingredients include fish,

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

, carabao, beef, goat, and pork, which are seasoned with ginger, chili, salt, and other spices to enhance their flavor. Notable examples of ''kilawin'' or ''kilawen'' dishes include ''Kilawen nga Ipon'' (baby anchovies or small fish), Jumping Salad (live shrimp), ''Kilawen a Kalding'' (grilled goat meat), ''Insarabasab'' (a dish similar to '' dinakdakan'' but without pig brain), Ata-ata or ''Kappukan'' (rare beef or carabao meat) and ''Kudil'' or ''Caliente'' (boiled carabao or cow skin). These dishes are integral to Ilocano cuisine and are highly regarded for their tangy and robust flavors. Among the Ivatan people of the Batanes islands refer to kinilaw as ''lataven''. Fish lataven is known as ''lataven a among'' (also spelled ''lataven a amung''). In the southern Philippines, the Tausug people of the

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...

islands refer to fish kinilaw as ''lawal''. Unlike other kinilaw dishes, lawal uses vinegar only 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 Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, ''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

and

is ''sinuglaw'', which combines fish kinilaw (usually tuna) and charcoal-grilled

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

('' sinugba'').

Gallery

File:Kagay-anon Kinilaw.jpg, Traditional fish ''kinilaw'' from Cagayan de Oro 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''
( sea grapes) File:Gatapusojf1764.JPG, ''Kilawin na pusô ng saging''
( banana flowers) File:Camote tops (talbos ng kamote).jpg, ''Kinilaw nga galay sa camote''
( camote leaves) File:Ensaladang kangkong (morning glory salad, Philippines).jpg, ''Ensaladang kangkong''
( water spinach) File:Ensaladang Pako with salted egg.jpg, ''Ensaladang pako''
( vegetable fern)

References