Comments on: Kinilaw na Tanguigue a la Tiyo Fredo

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:33:05 +0000

JE, you are really supposed to “bathe” the slices of fish in vinegar, at least in my book. I don’t like it soaking in vinegar for longer than a few minutes as it turns tough. Commercial vinegar can have a harshness to it that is distasteful. I like more native or artisanal vinegars better…

By: JE

JE — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:30:55 +0000

Is it a standard for kinilaw that it should be drowning in vinegar, or no?

I have a particular aversion to vinegar, but at one point during a Visayas vacation, I worked up the strength to try out a kinilaw that was graciously served to us by our host from Negros, and I have to say that it tasted awesome.

Not sure if it was just the fresh fish, or some other type of vinegar, or that it seemed to me like the fish wasn’t really drowning in the vinegar, which made me try it out. I’ve seen different versions of kinilaw where the vinegar was almost a soup, hence I don’t even try those out. Yet from the looks of the kinilaw that was served to you, it looks similar to the one I tried, probably minus the ground-meat look.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:24:45 +0000

Maripi, good question. I don’t think I have done an all-encompassing post on vinegars, and I don’t have much expertise on the subject… but I have done individual posts on things like coconut vinegar, here and even duhat vinegar, here. By native vinegar, I usually refer to either cane or coconut vinegar, though nipa vinegar is superb as well. I always emntion native vinegars as I hope folks will buy and use more of them rather than say the acidic commercial ones in plastic bottles in the groceries. But one has to be careful to ensure that native or artisanal vinegars have at least a 4-5% acidity level which is what you want in dishes like kinilaw, I think. At any rate, I didn’t see the bottle of vinegar used for this particular kinilaw but it was probably more likely to be a commercial one rather a purely NATIVE one. As for the types of vinegar, I have at least a DOZEN in our pantry at any given time. I like Spanish Sherry vinegars, love balsamic vinegars and have at least 6-8 kinds of those, ranging from 1 year to 18 year old balsamics. I have tried duhat, nipa, coconut, sugarcane, champagne, red wine, white wine, apple cider, etc. Apple vinegar is mild and superb for salads I find… so the list is quite extensive and its a bit of trial and error to find the ones you like. Try apple cider vinegar in your adobo, for example, it turns out really nice I find… I hope I haven’t confused you further… :)

By: Maripi

Maripi — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:49:11 +0000

Hi, MM! The Kinilaw is making me hungry, mmm…anyway, I wanted to ask you about native vinegar. Exactly what do you mean when you say native vinegar? As a lover of kinilaw, adobo, etc., I’m just learning now how important it is to choose the kind/brand of vinegar you use in cooking. I used to buy popular brands of vinegar advertised on media here, up until a friend of mine told me that those vinegars were unhealthy because they were just chemicals. I’m not sure about the science since I’m just a cook, but great vinegar becomes deliciously sour by aging, I think. Most commercial brands in supermarkets become sour because of chemicals added rather than aging, since the manufacturers are always in such a hurry to get their goods onto grocery shelves.
The type of vinegar I like is one that tastes like it’s got alcohol in it, a very subtle taste but also very sour! I was at a Negros Expo late last year & came across some great vinegar brands there, but unfortunately, most of them don’t have outlets here in Manila. Based on your blog, you sound like you definitely know about vinegar, & native at that. I hope you don’t mind my asking what vinegar/s you use & where you get them from? Really love your blog!

By: ykmd

ykmd — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:20:03 +0000

Mmmmm, that looks so good! Haven’t had this for a long time… my grandparents lived right by the beach and my lola would often hail the incoming fishermen to see what they had caught the night before. This was one of the frequent fliers (or rather, swimmers) on our lunch table :)

I just followed your link to guso and lato (which I remember fondly as well) and noticed that you only have pictures of the already-blanched guso and lato, none of the unblanched guso which you also referred to in your post. How I miss those seaweed salads! We also used to eat another seaweed (the name escapes me at the moment) which kind of looked like green capellini and was used in soups— that one I never got too excited about though.

By: eej

eej — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:33:40 +0000

The white stuff threw me off a bit… I thought it was feta cheese! Now, that would be something different.

By: nina

nina — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:03:44 +0000

I love kinilaw ng tanguigue…yummy…

By: kasseopeia

kasseopeia — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:33:06 +0000

I believe the “black thing on the kinilaw” is the skin that was left on the fish cubes.

I love kinilaw anything and tangigue is one of the best. It doesn’t flake very easily and it holds up to the acidity of the dressing. I like it very raw adnd very fresh. Pass me the San Mig Strong Ice please. *lol*

By: Anino

Anino — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:06:55 +0000

Litrato pa lang supersarap na.Paano pa kaya kung totoo na?

By: momsy

momsy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:02:22 +0000

Yum!Yum! Kinilaw na Tanigue, may fave pulutan.