From the recipe collection
Tabon-Tabon Kinilaw na Tahong
Cooked mussels dressed in the Northern Mindanao kinilaw style with tabon-tabon, calamansi, vinegar, ginger, onion, tomato, and chili.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 4
Get everything ready
Ingredients
Tick ingredients as you prepare.
Method
- Discard cracked mussels and any that stay open when tapped. Scrub, debeard, and rinse the remaining shells thoroughly.
- Steam with water and sliced ginger only until the shells open, 4–6 minutes. Discard any that remain closed.
- Remove the meat, inspect for shell fragments, and chill it quickly in a clean bowl.
- Grate or scrape tabon-tabon pulp into a little vinegar and squeeze to extract its cloudy astringent liquid; strain out coarse pulp.
- Whisk the tabon-tabon liquid with the remaining vinegar, calamansi, fish sauce, and pepper, then fold in onion, tomato, ginger, and chili.
- Add the cooked chilled mussels and optional coconut milk, toss gently, and rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
- Taste, adjust sourness and salt, and serve immediately. Do not keep at room temperature.