The Happy Home Cook: Kinilaw na Tanigue Topped with Lechon-Style Pork

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Kinilaw na Tanigue Topped with Lechon-Style Pork (Photo courtesy of Junior Master Chef Louise Mabulo)

Junior Master Chef Louise Mabulo shares her personal recipe for ‘kinilaw’, the Filipino version of the Spanish ‘ceviche’ using tanigue or tanguingue, topped with crisp pork cubes. Louise recommends using tuna as a substitute. She also uses fresh prawns or Gindara fish. This recipe serves 2 to 4 as an appetizer, side or entrée.

Servings : 4

Ingredients

1/4 kilo Tanigue or tanguingue (Spanish mackerel)
1/4 kilo pork belly
1 large onion, minced
1 knob of fresh ginger (luya), about 1 and 1/2 inches in length, peeled, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 to 4 pieces fresh calamansi (the Filipino lime), use juice from these or fresh lemons
4 Tablespoon Pinakurat vinegar (coconut vinegar in spice), from Asian markets
1 teaspoon salt

Procedure

Wash the Tanigue or tanguingue fish well. Fillet the fish by taking off the bones and skin. Slice into square cubes about 1-inch sizes.

In a large glass bowl, mix the Tanigue fish cubes with sliced onions, fresh ginger, salt, black pepper, calamansi juice and 3 to 4 tablespoons of pinakurat. Cover and refrigerate till later. Ideally, marinate the fish for about 30 minutes for it to "cook" in the vinegar.

To make the Lechon-style pork: boil the pork belly with the skin on in a medium-sized stockpot over high heat. Water amount should be enough to cover pork. Add salt and black pepper powder while boiling. Continue to cook pork till tender for about 30 minutes.

When pork is cooked, drain the liquid and take out the pork belly whole piece. Wrap the bottom and sides of the pork with foil, leaving the top open.

Place pork belly in an electric grill or a regular oven. Roast this amount for 30 minutes in an oven temperature of 350 F.  The skin on top of the pork should be crisp just like Lechon.

Chop up Lechon pork into small cubes. Take out the Tanigue from the refrigerator. Add the pork pieces on the top of the Tanigue.

Ingredient substitute: Plain white vinegar can be a substitute for pinakurat. Just add 1 clove garlic, 1 piece bird's eye chilies, 5 pieces peppercorns to the vinegar at least overnight.

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