Kilawin
| Alternative names | Kilawen, Kinilaw, Ata-ata, Kappukan |
|---|---|
| Course | Appetizer or Main course |
| Place of origin | Philippines |
| Region or state | Ilocos Region |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature, cold |
| Main ingredients | Meat, sugarcane vinegar, calamansi, onion, ginger, salt, black pepper |
| Variations | Goat, beef, carabao, pork, fish |
| Similar dishes | Dinakdakan, Pinapaitan, Sisig |
Kilawin (also spelled Kilawén) is a Filipino dish consisting of chopped raw, grilled, or boiled meat—such as fish, pork, goat, beef, or carabao—marinated in vinegar or citrus juices. It is commonly served as an appetizer or as finger food with alcoholic beverages. Originating from the Ilocos Region, kilawin is considered the Ilocano counterpart of Visayan and Tagalog kinilaw, but unlike kinilaw, it is not limited to raw meat.
Kilawén is closely associated with the Ilocano dish kilawén a kaldíng (Tagalog: kilawing kambing), which uses lightly grilled goat meat and is traditionally eaten with papaít, a bittering agent usually derived from bile or chyme extracted from the animal’s internal organs.
Among Ilocanos, kilawén functions as an intransitive verb referring broadly to a method of food preparation that includes raw, lightly cooked, grilled, boiled, or cured dishes, encompassing foods that would elsewhere be classified as kinilaw. In contrast, non-Ilocano Filipinos often use the term kilawén more narrowly to describe cooked meat dishes prepared in a vinegar-based style similar to adobo or paksiw.