My Version Of Tinolang Manok

This Sunday I posted an article how I prep our weekly meal and someone asked me for a recipe of one of the meal I include on my list. It was atsara and tinolang manok with papaya.

@yllentv asked me for the recipe because papayas are also native to their country.

Do you know that there are some countries who didn't know they can cook papaya when it's unripe? They though it could only be eaten as a fruit when it's ripe.

Well, I think Philippines is just a country that utilizes everything around it.

So back to the recipe...Today I'll be sharing my Version Of Tinolang Manok.

Tinolang manok is a soupy dish with ginger and either papaya or sayote.

Ingredients

1. Chicken (I'm using 1/2 kilo)
2. Papaya (cut into bite sizes)
3. Ginger
4. Garlic
5. Onion
6. Banana Pepper (I don't have banana pepper. Sadly but this is a must!)
7. Moringga Leaves or Pepper Leaves (Sadly I don't have it too but if you have you should definitely add some)
8. Salt
9. Pepper
10. Chicken Bullion Cubes (This is optional)
11. Water

That's all! Not so many ingredients yet you could make a delicious meal. Also the ingredients doesn't really have any measurements, for some reason I perceive Filipino cooking as a gut feeling. You don't need measurements just your gut feeling.

Procedures:

1. In a pan or a pot anything that can hold water, put your chicken add a teaspoon of oil and about one eight cup of water.

I only use a small amount of oil and added water to force the fat out of the chicken and cook it in it's own oil. We got to think healthy, right?

Saute the chicken until medium brown or when you feel like the fat had dissolved from the chicken. I added a pinch of salt and peeper on the chicken while sauteing. When brown, push the chicken on the side yo let out the oil. As your preference, you can add or remove oil.

1. Saute Ginger, Garlic and Onion beside the chicken.

Instead of chopping the three I like to grate them. For they are more flavorful when grated.

There's an unending debate in my country whether garlic or onion should come first when sauteing but honestly it tastes the same either way. It's just my preference to put garlic first before the onion.

I also add a pinch of salt and pepper to the ginger, garlic and onion while sauteing.

1. When the garlic is brown and the onion is translucent. Saute the chicken together with the aromatics.

Continue sauteing for about three minutes until the ingredients have infused together.

1. Add water. Now, the water will again be based on your gut feeling. We like it on the soupy side so I added about 2 cups of water. Some will evaporate along the way. So I tend to add more at the end.

Instead of water you can also use chicken stock or water used to rinse rice.

1. Add the chicken bullion cube. I only use half of it. (This is optional.) Let it simmer.

1. When the broth is simmering, add your papaya. You can also use Sayote instead of papaya.

Let it boil for fifteen minutes or until papaya is for tender.

1. I don't have banana pepper but it is a must in this dish to give it a little kick.

Also you can leafy green in here. We usually use moringga leaves or pepper leaves.

And tadah! You have a meal! It is best serve on rainy days for the broth could warm your body.

What I like about Filipino cooking is there's really no way of cooking dishes in a certain way. You can have your own way with every dishes as long as you know the main ingredients and basic steps of cooking it. In this case chicken, ginger and papaya and sauteing.

The dish is best serve with a hefty amount of rice. Enjoy!

I have enjoyed this article, care to tell what to cook next?