Ginataang Tulingan Recipe

Ginataang Tulingan is probably one of my favorite dishes to order at karenderyas. There’s just something about this Filipino dish and its ginataang Filipino recipe from karenderyas that is deeply satisfying to consume for some reason. I always look forward to lunchtime during my college years if I know that the karenderya down the street that is serving their signature ginataang tulingan.

This creamy delicious dish has become a staple in my diet during my college years because that particular karenderya is almost always serving it for their customers. That karenderya is also close to my boarding house and I have to pass by them whenever I have to attend classes which is the reason why I know what they’ll be serving for lunch. Of course, I don’t eat ginataang tulingan every time they’ve served it but it did take up a large percentage of my diet.

I guess I really love the taste of ginataang Filipino dishes in general. I love the textures it brings to my place and the taste of that creamy coconut flavor as its paired with a more savory ingredient plus vegetables that most people outside the Philippines wouldn’t think of being compatible, taste-wise, with coconut.

Ginataang tulingan for some reason isn’t really served at home growing up. My parents liked tulingan with vinegar more than coconut milk which is why dishes like paksiw na tulingan are more commonly served there. Which I think also plays in the reason why dove right into the dish whenever it’s served at the aforementioned karenderya.

And for those of you who don’t know, tulingan is basically just skipjack tuna with most people here sometimes describing it as just small-sized tuna and some even call it mackerel tuna but let’s just call it tulingan to avoid the confusion. I love the taste of this fish but I understand that some people can find it to be overpowering on its own. Ginataang tulingan creates the best paring that the creamy coconut milk perfectly balances out the flavors of the fish.

I recently visited that area to see if that karenderya was still there but much to my disappointment, that karenderya closed about a year ago. I asked the neighboring establishments if they know what happened and apparently the owners moved out of the city to their province. This is really disappointing because this means that I’ll never get to have a taste of their ginataang tulingan again or their other delicious Filipino dishes. I really wished that I asked for their recipes when I had the chance.

I figured that there’s no point about crying over spilled milk but I was drastically craving to get a taste of delicious ginataang tulingan and other karenderyas where I tried their ginataang tulingan just wasn’t the same, although still delicious in their own right.

So, like every time I’m trying to look for the perfect recipe, I scoured the internet for the ginataang tulingan recipes, tried a bunch of them, did some adjustments–minor and major, and finally landed on a ginataang tulingan recipe that’s tastes just like the one served in the karenderya near my boarding house.

I was so excited about doing this recipe that I decided to put up a video on it on the site’s Youtube channel. The whole process was a blast, especially since the end result was so rewarding.

For this ginataang tulingan recipe I’ve came up with, we’ll need a list of ingredients. I went to the local market and bought 3 medium sized tulingan or skipjack tuna that’s been cleaned and cut into pieced by the seller, 2 pieced of chili fingers, 2 medium-sized eggplants which we’ll need to chop, 4 pieced of tomatoes that we’ll also need to chop, and 3 cups of coconut milk.

From my pantry, I’ll be using 1 cup of vinegar, 3 to 4 cloves of garlic that’s chopped, 2 medium-sized onions that are also chopped, 1 small ginger also chopped, 1 tablespoon of peppercorn, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce which is optional, 2 pieced of calamansi for calamansi juice, salt, and ½ cup of water.

You can read more for the cooking process or watch the video below if you’re a visual learner. The entire cooking process is fairly simple to follow as with most ginataang recipes.

First, combine all the ingredients in a cooking pot except for the coconut milk, eggplants, and tomatoes then let that simmer for 15-20 minutes in medium heat. Once the 15-20 minutes are up, add the coconut milk, eggplants, and tomatoes into the pot.

Let the pot simmer again for under medium heat this time for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Turn off the heat and we have the delicious ginataang tulingan dish which the manang from the karenderya would be proud of. Serve with white rice and a cold drink.