Palawan’s Kinilaw na Tamilok (or Tamilok Ceviche)
I was excited to feast on fresh seafoods when i first visited Palawan, back in 2008. The thoughts of garlic crabs & shrimps, grilled tuna and lobster filled my mind every time I would enter a restaurant.
Are you brave enough to taste this? Photo by cyberbaguioboy
Tamilok on its natural habitat- rotting mangrove trees. Photo by Rita W.
When I asked my local friend on what I should try in Palawan, without thinking twice he said, I should try “tamilok.” Almost everyone I met would ask, “Natikman mo na ba yung tamilok?” (Have you tried tamilok). Curious of what tamilok is I said to myself, “I have to taste that before I leave,” not knowing how it looked like.
Ala-Fear Factor Challenge
The night before my flight back to Manila, the owner of Balinsasayaw restaurant surprised me when she placed a platito of tamilok on our table alongside the garlic crabs and shrimps. She said, “Ubusin nyo yan ha” (Finish all of it). I sigh, what a quirky challenge!
“I smelled it, picked the shortest, closed my eyes and swallowed. It was slimy, fishy, sour & a little bit salty. It looked like a spaghetti pasta strip, only bigger and translucent.”
The first try was followed by a second one, this time a longer piece, then a third one until it was all gone (parang natapon lang).
Tamilok Ceviche (Kinilaw) is a perfect appetizer to the more adventurous, a perfect beer match as you want to wash the taste of it with a dab of cold beer. It is served with local vinegar spiced with chopped onions, garlic and chili.
How to enjoy eating it:
1. On a plate full of mangrove worms (shipworms), pick a size that you can swallow (ask your friends to be ready and capture a Kodak moment).
2. Dunk it into the the spiced vinegar (like how you dunk an Oreo cookie into a glass of milk).
3. Wait for the perfect moment, pull it from the vinegar as you would have pulled a spaghetti pasta strip.
4. Place it on your mouth, close your eyes and swallow. Don’t forget to bite some of it before it goes all the way down to your esophagus.
5. Say masabor gale! (“delicious” in Palawan/Cuyunon dialect)
5. Repeat!
See how the 5 sexy Brits took the challenge on BBC’s Last Woman Standing:
Where to experience this?
Kinilaw na Tamilok is available in Kinabuchs Grill & Bar, Rizal Ave., Puerto Princesa City. They also serve fried tamilok which I believe is less fishy and slimy. Price: Php120 good for 2 -3 persons
On a budget? Go to the public markets of Puerto Princesa City, San Jose and Roxas, Palawan and you would see tamiloks sold in plastics for only Php25-30. It is just plain tamilok, feel free to make add your own ingredients.
Can’t get enough?
Ohhhh, so you have tasted this already and you want a bigger and harder challenge?
Sultan Kudarat’s GIANT Tamilok, white shell on the left, the humongous snake-sized tamilok on the right (Photo from: istorya.net).
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This is my food invitation to all the adventurous foodies out there, an addition to “PINOY QUIRKY FOODS” Blog Carnival by Pinoy Travel Bloggers.
Click Pinoy Quirky Foods and choose from the wide array of quirky foods. Have a quirky feast!
Just click the Blog Carnival Logo to see the previous topics.
Hmmm, looks slimy hahhaha, I’ll surely drop by Kinabuchs on my way to El Nido on March. I will have a stop over at Puerto Princesa just for this. I would love to see you though eat that giant tamilok in the last pic 😉
yeah, the vibe is in kinabucha talaga. not that expensive pa.
when i go to sultan kudarat, i will surely try that. haha
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asteeg james! haha parang d ko kaya yan. hmmm..parang sarap na sarap ka tlga! kakainggit! hehe
may giant tamilok pala. may kilala akong ayaw na ayaw kumain niyan kahit willing na ako magbayad nung nasa puerto princesa kami.
i think i’ll pass hehe. pero on the second thought, i think i would try that pero wag lang sasabihin sakin kung ano yan. does it taste like escargot?
slimy!!! can’t wait to try this.
goodness gracious. i wonder how they discovered this worm is edible. i suppose one day this native fell asleep on a bakawan and this worm found its way to his mouth.
*gross* hahaha.
I think that’s cool. I’ll ask for this when I visit Palawan this year. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
yeah, its cool! try sultan kudarat’s tamilok too!
Didn’t you feel it crawl in your stomach? Hehe. Parang pinahabang talaba lang sya sa itsura. Hehe.
I’m afraid I can’t try that kind of exotic cuisine as I had a bad taste for slimy food… BTW, I have read your latest article contribution in Mabuhay Magazine January edition, Explore Iloilo – nice article for those who want to explore Iloilo.
idol! ha ha parang masarap pag may SMB!
Dapat ko yatang tikman ‘to.. Parang masaya at masarap eh. =) Hindi lang siguro yung giant tamilok, parang kaya niya na kasing kitilin yung buhay ko.. Hehe,.
ahaha… masaya talaga sa lalamunan, its like the first time you drink your gin, gumuguhit.
pang fear factor nga sya james/.
gross lang sa photo, okay naman lasa.
Ok lang yung kinilaw pero hindi naman ung kahuhuli fresh from the mangrove trunks (like ung nasa video) yay! Na-try ko tikman ung pine-prepare nila (with suka, ginger, onions) after ng mangrove paddle boat ride namin sa Sabang pero hindi ung as in di pa natitimpla. (Takot lang akong kumain ng marami nun kasi takot ako masira tyan ko like when I tried kinilaw na talaba- LBM)
mas masarap yung kakahuli lang mye! haha mas adventurous kainin
i just had a taste of it 2 weeks ago… sarap! 😉
nice to hear that! do you still remember how much you paid for it?
i heard its more expensive now…
100pesos for a spoonful tamilok in sabang..
very brave brits. the local did right, removed the muddy innards before gicing it to the brits.
Its more fun in the philippines
yep! brave brits and good local guide
I finally tasted it! and liked it!
You post a photo (GIANT Tamilok) without the consent of the owner..
You post a photo (GIANT TAMILOK) without the consent of the owner.
i placed a link under the photo. if you find this wrong, i can take down the photo.