Chicken Tinola
Chicken tinola is a very popular dish here in the Philippines as the main dish often served with rice. This dish became popular because of Dr. Jose Rizal's novel Noli Mi Tangere. In his book, it can be concluded that chicken tinola is avey popular dish served to the rich and powerful. Or maybe not. I can't really remember everything about the Tinola part of that novel but you might want to read it - one of the best books I ever read.
Anyways, I didn't do good in my high school book report for this novel so I don't plan on making one for this post.
This was the first viand I learned to cook back when I was just starting out in the kitchen. Today, we had Chicken Tinola for lunch. I have written a tagalog version of this recipe. This time, I'm writing it in English just in case someone from another country reads my blog. 😅😜
Ingredients
Half a chicken
1 small green papaya (seeded and wedged)
Ginger (Cut and slice them whichever way you like.)
Onion (Sliced or diced, it doesn't matter.)
Garlic (Better if crushed, then minced.)
Chilli leaves
Malunggay powder
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fish sauce
How to Cook
- Heat the pot then add in a few drops of olive oil.
- Sautee onions then add in garlic and ginger.
- Add in chicken into the pot. Pour 1/8 cup of fish sauce. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Mix well until all the chicken pieces are covered in fish sauce and all the other ingredients. Simmer for at least 5 minutes. Lower the fire.
- If you see the chicken meat already cooked on all its sides, pour in 4-5 cups of water. Keep the fire low. You'd want to cook your chicken completely under low fire. The flavor will blend well in the soup when Tinola is cooked slowly.
- Once the water is boiling, add in the papaya wedges. We'll now wait until the papaya is tenderly cooked.
- Lastly, add in the chilli leaves and malunggay powder.
This is best served hot and is really perfect for cold or rainy seasons. But of course, you can always cook it anytime you want.
