Filipino Tinola

enigmused's Note:

I can't believe there's no recipe for Tinola on this site. it's a staple of Filipino cuisine, and it's basically a ginger chicken stewish soup. I've modified my mom's recipe to include only chicken breasts, as the original includes all sorts of chicken parts that I don't eat. As Filipino recipes are meant to be taste-tested at every step and tweaked to one's liking, these should only be general guidelines to help you perfect your own Tinola recipe.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 2 -3 chicken breasts, cut up into small pieces
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons gingerroot, zested
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 chayote, peeled and cubed (You can also substitute green papaya or winter melon)
• olive oil
• 3/4-1 cup water

Directions:

1. Saute garlic, onion and ginger in oil for 30 seconds over med heat.
2. Add chicken and saute until chicken meat turns white. Add fish sauce.
3. Cover and simmer until chicken is almost completely cooked (7-10 min.). At this point, there will be a fair amount of broth, since all the juices from the chicken are coming out.
4. Add water (I usually add 3/4 cup and that gives me a pretty good, concentrated flavor. my mom adds a little more than a cup, and the flavor is much mellower and sometimes I add more fish sauce at the table. really, you should just experiment).
5. Add chayote and simmer for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
6. Serve over rice.

Reviews

[Pinaygourmet #345142]

When I found this recipe I went shopping for ingredients right away. Luckily I found frozen chili pepper leaves (dahon ng sili) at the Filipino store. Oh my god! Every spoonful of this wonderful tinola cured me of my homesickness. It felt like I was home again. Thank you so much, you have no idea how good this dish made me feel.

[emilyice]

yum. i added about 7 cups of water and 3 tablespoons of fish sauce. 3 tablespoons of fish sauce was a bit too much. added "magic sarap" (a powder seasoning) that is popular here in the philippines. the magic sarap powder helped the flavor immensely. masarap (tagalog for delicious).

[jApZerlearns2c00k41]

Thanks a lot for this recipe!!! Now, I learn to cook this soothing dish... the broth is just awesome... will definitely cook again!