This month, we’re excited to bring you Chef AC Boral, the mastermind behind Baba’s House Kitchen, an up-and-coming rice bowl eatery in Oakland! This month, he’ll be teaching us how to make Kimchi Kilawin!
Learn more about the dish and chef below. Ingredients list provided.
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About the Dish
Kimchi Kilawin
Kimchi Kilawin is a fusion twist to the traditional Filipino dish. Kinilaw is a fresh and tangy raw seafood dish native to the Philippines, which uses vinegar and fruit juices to “cook” its ingredients, often comparable to ceviche. Here, Chef AC will prepare a variation of this dish called kilawin. The primary difference between “kinilaw” and “kilawin” is that kilawin can be cooked, while kinilaw is “cooked” by curing in acidic ingredients. No kinilaw or kilawin looks the same. Traditionally, it is composed of the local catch specific to one’s region, with varying add-ons and garnishes. Though, here, Chef AC turns to the popular Korean ingredient of kimchi, fermented and seasoned cabbage, as a standout feature of this recipe.
Recipe
“Kimchi Kilawin” by AC Boral of Baba’s House Kitchen (BHK)
Time: 15 min (prep), 1 hr 15 min (total)
From the Chef: “This recipe takes aspects of a ceviche, poke, and traditional kilawin to make a healthy and easy to prep dish to serve over some warm rice. Comforting and delicious, while also packed with flavor and not weighing you down. Also, this recipe is very flexible and can be adapted to the ingredients you have on hand.”
Instructions
Prep your fish. Make sure the fish is dry, either by letting it air out in the fridge or using paper towels to blot up the moisture.
Sear your fish. In a pan, heat some oil up for the fish. Once the oil in the pan simmers, add the fish to the pan and sear for one minute, check to see if you like the color. Flip and sear until desired doneness. Move fish to a plate and let rest and cool to room temperature.
Prepare your dressing. Prep all the other ingredients and whisk to combine in a mixing bowl.
Combine the dressing and fish. Once cooled, cube or dice your fish and add to the mixing bowl with dressing. Make sure the fish and kilawin dressing are combined really well.
Let it rest. Cover your mixing bowl and let the flavors marinate for at least 30 minutes. Toss the fish in the bowl once to help even seasoning, cover, and rest another 30 minutes.
Kain na! Serve over warm rice and a sprinkling of green onion.
Ingredients
Dressing:
¼ c kimchi, diced
2 Tb lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tb young ginger, minced
¼ c red onion, diced
1 Thai chili, seeded and chopped
¼ c coconut milk
1 lb fish filets of your choice
fresh cooked rice and sliced green onion!
Optional:
1 tsp fish sauce or 1 Tb bagoong
Furikake, sesame seeds, or any crunchy toppings you might want!
Notes:
We intentionally kept this recipe low sodium but salt could be added to taste. Vinegar, kimchi, and lemon bring a lot of flavor to offset the need for salt. Coconut milk brings a little bit of sweetness to the whole dish. A lot of the ingredients are very healthy: Chilies and fermented foods--like kimchi and bagoong--can aid in digestive health. Lemon juice brings Vitamin D. Garlic is good for the heart; ginger is good for inflammation.
Chef AC’s restaurant, Baba’s House Kitchen, prepare a similar dish but with raw ahi tuna, closer to a poke style.
About the Host
Chef AC
A.C. Boral is the chef and owner of Baba's House Kitchen (BHK) in Oakland, a fast-casual lunch spot that host pop-ups and special tasting menus for dinner. A.C. considers himself a creative who uses his food as its medium: it's his unique and untrained view of food that has brought many diffrent concepts to life, from a Wu-Tang Tribute dinner series, to the Filipino-American brunch RICE & SHINE (travelling pop-up), along with opening the family-oriented Bebot Filipino Soul Food (Long Beach) and quick service storefront Baon DTLA (LA).
His values and personal growth are integral to the storytelling he does through food, and after a long hiatus and a move to Oakland, he's excited for this fresh start to bring his creativity and storytelling to the Bay. His biggest inspiration is his late father, whose dream of opening a restaurant lives on through him.
About Balay (Home) Cooking
In collaboration with our non-profit partner SOMCAN, Balay (Home) Cooking is a recurring cooking demonstration series which showcases a new chef and healthy Filipino dish every month that you can recreate at home!
Tune in from the comfort (and safety) of home!
Our priority is providing a safe and optimal environment for all participants, as well as our staff and guest chef. Therefore, all classes will be streamed live from our Balay Streaming Hub to be viewed remotely. Follow along from your kitchen or simply watch and learn!
This month’s event will be hosted at Kapwa Gardens.