Recipe : Chicken Tinola (Chicken-Ginger Stew)

I have several friends who have asked me to teach them how to cook dishes for their husbands, families, or special someone. They all have the same requests... that the dish be easy to cook, but still be delicious and impressive. The first recipe I always share is for my scrumptious Chicken Tinola. Easy, breezy, and guaranteed to be really yummy! Chicken Tinola might seem intimidating to people just learning to cook, but believe me, it really is easy to whip up!

Aside from being Father Damaso's favorite food, as mentioned in Jose Rizal's first novel "Noli Me Tangere", Chicken Tinola is a classic Filipino favorite... hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do!

Chicken Tinola (Chicken-Ginger Stew)

photo by my husband Wowie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sized whole chicken - cut into your prefered portion size, or any parts of the chicken you want
• 1 palm-sized ginger root - peeled and cut into french fries-like strips
• 5 medium sized sayote (chayote, christophene) OR unripe green papaya - peeled, centers removed and sliced diagonally (like how I do it) or sliced into any size or shape you want ~ you can also use zucchinis if sayote is hard to find in your area ~ feel free to add more if you want a lot of vegetables in your stew
• 1 small onion - minced
• 3 cloves garlic - minced
• 3/4 cup patis (fish sauce) ~ if you can't find any fish sauce in your area, use salt to taste
• 1 bunch of dahon ng sili (chilli leaves) or malunggay leaves (moringga leaves) or spinach leaves
• * optional: Red Chillis - minced ~ amount depending on how spicy you want your Chicken Tinola
• water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a casserole or saucepan heat about 4-5 tablespoons of cooking oil over medium to medium high heat.
2. Sauté onions, garlic, and ginger (but do not brown)
3. Add the chicken pieces
4. Add the 3/4 cup patis and mix briefly. Make sure that all the chicken pieces are coated with the patis, and are lined evenly at the bottom of the pan.
5. Cover the casserole or saucepan and let it simmer for about 7-10 minutes ~  this will make the chicken cook in patis making it tasty even without the broth (if you do not have fish sauce, just let the chicken simmer for about 5 minutes and just season the broth after step #9)
6. Add the sayote slices
7. Add water until the level reaches enough to cover the chicken pieces and sayote
8. Add your minced red chillis if you want a spicy version of this dish
9. Bring your pot to a boil, and wait until your sayote slices and chicken are tender
10. Taste the broth and add patis or salt to taste if still needed.
11. Add the chilli leaves, give it a stir, and let it sit for 1-2 minutes more
12. Remove from heat

* makes 4-6 servings, depending on how much each person eats :-) hehehe :-)

* best served and eaten with cooked white rice

* this dish can also be eaten alone as a soup if desired

Bon appétit!

* your feedback, comments, opinions, and suggestions
are highly appreciated... 

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