Chinilaw

What is Chinilaw?

 
Chinilaw is a combination of chicharon and kinilaw!

Filipino language lesson

chicharon = pork cracklings

kinilaw = a raw fish dish akin to the Mexican ceviche

Chinilaw is one of the highlighted dishes at Claude Tayag’s Downtown Cafe in the Pampanga province of the Philippines!

It costs about 200 pesos and is described on the menu as a “Symphony of Citrus-Washed Tuna Ceviche (Kinilaw), Pork Cracklings (Chicharon), Apple and Cucumber Kimchi.” Basically, it’s slices of tuna sashimi arranged in a circle interspersed with chicharon pieces… and there are mixed raw vegetables in the ring’s center.

Apparently, it originally was going to be called chinuglaw, which happened to be already being used as a name for a hotel version of Cagayan de Oro’s sinuglaw. That portmanteau is a combination of the three words chicharon, sinugba (grilled pork belly) and kinilaw.