Kinunot na Tulingan

Kinunot na Tulingan, or Mackerel Tuna in Coconut Milk, is a traditional Filipino dish that came from the Bicol region. This delightful seafood dish features fresh tulingan fish cooked in a flavorful sauce made with a blend of coconut milk, vinegar, ginger, garlic, onion, pepper, malunggay leaves, green chilies and salt. Served with steaming hot rice, Kinunot na Tulingan offers a harmonious combination of savory flavors and creamy textures that are sure to satisfy any seafood lover’s palate.

Kinunot na Tulingan Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 – 4 pieces tulingan
• 1 tablespoon salt (for boiling)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 2 thumb ginger (sliced)
• 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
•  3 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 cups thin coconut milk
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups malunggay leaves
• red and green chilies

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the tulingan. Remove the guts and fins. Gently crack and pull the tail. Make a large slit at the center of each fish from head to tail. Set aside.
2. Prepare a deep pan. Arrange the slices of ginger the pan and put the tulingan above them. Sprinkle some salt and pour water to cover the fish. Cover the pot and let this cook for 15 minutes.
3. Transfer the tulingan to a separate plate. Set aside to cool down a bit. Once cool, separate the flesh from the bones using your hands. Flake the flesh into smaller pieces.
4. Heat some oil in a pan. Add the garlic, onions and ginger. Saute for a few minutes until aromatic. Then, add the tulingan flakes. Saute for a few minutes.
5. Pour the vinegar. Wait for the strong taste of the vinegar to evaporate before mixing. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
6. Pour the thin coconut milk. Cover the pot and let it simmer until the sauce has been greatly reduced.
7. Add the green chilies and malunggay leaves. Stir well to soften the malunggay leaves. Pour the thick coconut milk and let this simmer for 5 minutes using low heat. Add some chopped red chilies for some kick. After a few minutes, turn the heat off.
8. Transfer the kinunot na tulingan to a serving plate. Enjoy this with a big bowl of hot steaming rice. Yum!

What is Kinunot?

Once we hear the word “kinunot”, I bet most of you will visualize a grumpy old man who is angry and has a lot of wrinkles in his forehead. When I first heard of the kinunot na tulingan, I visualized a grumpy old tulingan with wrinkles on its forehead. HAHAHAHA. But kidding aside, the name “kinunot” is derived from the Filipino word “kinuhol,” which means to extract or separate.

Kinunot na Tulingan is a traditional Filipino dish that features mackerel tuna simmered in a flavorful coconut milk sauce. This dish is characterized by its tender and flaky fish flakes, infused with the richness of coconut milk, and complemented by the subtle heat of chilies. With its enticing aroma and delightful combination of flavors, kinunot na Tulingan is a dish that is sure to captivate your taste buds. Whether enjoyed as a main course or paired with steaming rice, this seafood delicacy promises a satisfying and comforting dining experience. This recipe will be featured in this article.

Kinunot na Tulingan

If you are a person with poor eyesight or just simply dont want fishbones, this dish is for you. For the kinunot na tulingan, the fish is already flaked for you.

My lola will be staying with me and my partner for the night. I have been thinking for the whole day on what dinner will I cook for later. My lola gave me a request that she wanted something creamy. My partner suggested that I open a can of tuna and just add some cream. But I think that would be unhealthy. We like to cook using fresh ingredients!

Knowing that my lola has a poor eyesight and my partner is a lazy ass who doesnt want fishbones, the kinunot na tulingan is the first dish which comes into my mind. Since I have all the energy for the kitchen, I will be their savior and flake the fish for them.

Kinunot na tulingan is the perfect dish to enjoy fish dishes without the hassle of fishbones. Aside from its easyness to consume, the creamyness partners well with the ocean taste of the tulingan.

If you wanna know how to make kinunot na tulingan, read and follow the easy steps below. Happy cooking!

How to Cook Kinunot na Tulingan

Preparing some kinunot na tulingan is super easy. With its simplicity, your forehead will not kunot and make wrinkles. This dish can be cooked in just a few minutes, and I promise you, you will spend more time in plucking the malunggay leaves from the stem than the time spent in cooking this dish.

Start by preparing the tulingan. Since this dish will involve flaking the flesh, large size tulingan is ideal for this recipe. Once the tulingan have been gutted and the fins are removed, the last thing to do is to break the tail and then gently pull. This is believed to have caused allergies to some people thats why we do this.

Then, the next thing to do is to initially boil the fish to cook. To help with removing the strong fishy smell of the fish, some ginger slices will be helpful. Within around 15 minutes of cooking, the tulingan is cooked.

The next step would be flaking the fish. While this may sound tedious, you can start by removing the flesh from the bones, and then flake with your hands to make them smaller. If you want to have this the fastest way, you can just chop the flesh if you want instead of manual flaking.  Just make sure that no fishbone will be included in the final bowl.

Then, saute them in a pan together with the classic aromatics. But since this is a fish dish, I also used some chopped ginger. Add the vinegar. Just like other recipes, do not stir them immediately. Allow the strong smell of the vinegar to evaporate first before mixing. If not, this will give a strong bitter taste of raw vinegar to the dish. At this point, your pan will look like you are cooking fish sisig.

Then, add the thin coconut milk. We will only boil the fish with this for a few minutes since the fish is already cooked. Then, we add the thick coconut milk to incorporate the creamy flavor fully into the fish. Dont forget to add your malunggay leaves and green chilies.

The last thing to do is to get yourself a big bowl of hot steaming rice because the dish is ready! Yum!

Kinunot na Tulingan Recipe in Tagalog

Mga Sangkap:

• 3 – 4 piraso ng tulingan
• 1 kutsaritang asin
• 1 pirasong sibuyas (hiniwa)
• 2 pirasong luya (hiniwa)
• 3 butil ng bawang (hiniwa)
• 3 kutsarang suka
• 2 tasa ng unang piga ng gata
• 1 tasa ng pangalawang piga ng gata
• asin at paminta
• 3 tasa ng dahon ng malunggay
• Siling haba
• Siling labuyo

Paano Lutuin:

1.  Linisin at ihanda ang mga tulingan. Alisin ang mga lamang-loob at palikpik. Putulin at hilahin ang mga buntot. Hiwaan ng malalim ang bawat isda mula ulo hanggang buntot. Isantabi.
2. Maghanda ng malalim na kawali. I-ayos ang mga hiwa ng luya sa ilalim ng kawali, saka ilagay ang mga tulingan. Lagyan ng kaunting asin at ibuhos ang tubig hanggang matakpan ang isda. Takpan ang kawali at pakuluin ito ng 15 minuto.
3. Ilipat ang mga tulingan sa hiwalay na pinggan. Hayaang maluto ng kaunti. Kapag malamig na, alisin ang laman mula sa tinik gamit ang kamay. Hiwain ang mga ito ng maliliit.
4. Magpainit ng mantika sa kawali. Igisa ang bawang, sibuyas, at luya ng ilang minuto hanggang maging mabango. Sunod na ilagay ang hiniwang laman ng tulingan. Igisa ng ilang minuto.
5. Ilagay ang suka. Wag munang haluin agad agad. Hintayin na mawala ang matapang na amoy ng suka bago haluin. Timplahan ng asin at paminta ayon sa panlasa. Haluin ng mabuti.
6. Ilagay ang pangalawang piga ng gata ng niyog. Takpan ang kawali at pakuluan hanggang kumonti ang sauce.
7. Ilagay ang mga siling haba at mga dahon ng malunggay. Haluin ng mabuti upang lumambot ang mga dahon. Ibuhos ang unang piga na gata ng niyog at pakuluan ng 5 minuto gamit ang mahinang apoy. Kung gusto mo ng konting anghang, pwede mo ring lagyan ng hiniwang siling labuyo. Matapos ang ilang minuto, patayin ang apoy.
8. Ilipat ang kinunot na tulingan sa serving plate. Ihain ito kasama ang mainit na kanin. Yum!