There is a category of Filipino dishes that truly feel like a warm hug. Not just because these comforting dishes bring you literal warmth from their hot temperatures, as is the case with sinigang (a sour tamarind soup) or arroz caldo (a soupy rice porridge), but especially because they remind you of home. My mom used to make chicken tinola or tinolang manok every single week, especially during the colder months or in rainy weather. The uplifting and nose-tingling scent of this gingery Filipino soup would emanate from the kitchen regularly since it was so simple for my mom to make with her busy schedule as a nurse, and it was also the ultimate cold fighter thanks to all that germ-fighting, antioxidant packed ginger.
Besides the ginger, the main flavor driver of the dish is the chicken itself, which simmers in a simple fish sauce-seasoned water broth along with onions and garlic. There are a couple of more “exotic” ingredients that are often used in Filipino cooking. Sayote or chayote is a green squash that has a similar texture to a soft daikon radish when simmered in broth, providing texture and filling veggies to the soup. Malunggay or moringa is a leafy green that looks almost like eucalyptus with similar anti-inflammatory, superfood-like qualities as ginger. It has a texture similar to spinach when wilted, but with a more peppery and slightly grassy flavor to add more depth to the soup. Both of these should be available at Asian supermarkets.
Like most Filipino dishes, chicken tinola is best eaten with a scoop of fluffy white rice. If you want to take it to the next level, follow my lead and crisp up the chicken skin to top your rice. Not only will doing this render chicken fat to cook your onion, garlic and ginger with, but the crispy chicken skin bits will make an extra satisfying rice topping that really brings in the chicken flavor. It’s a way better use of the skin in my opinion versus soft, chewy skin that simmers in the soup, but do whatever you like most.
Filipino Chicken Tinola (Tinolang Manok) with Crispy Chicken Skin Rice
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken drumsticks or chopped bone-in chicken pieces (optional: use skin-on drumsticks to make crispy chicken skin topping, see recipe)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil (if not using chicken skin, see recipe)
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 3 inch knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Pinch of salt, more to taste
- 4 tbsp fish sauce, more to taste
- 5 cups water
- 1 medium chayote, sliced into wedges (substitute with zucchini or green papaya)
- 1-2 cups of moringa leaves (substitute with spinach)
Instructions
- Optional: Make crispy chicken skin to top your rice. Remove the skin from the chicken using kitchen scissors or a knife and place it flat into a cold pot. Turn heat to medium-low and cook for 8-10 minutes until the fat renders and the skin is crispy, flipping the skin over after 6-8 minutes if needed. Keep the skin and rendered fat in the pan for the next step
- Heat the oil in your pot over medium heat only if not using the chicken skin. Add the onions, ginger and garlic to the pot and season with a pinch of salt, stirring to evenly coat in chicken fat/oil. Immediately remove the seasoned crispy chicken skin from the pan if using, and set aside on your chopping board. Chop into tiny pieces.
- Cook the onion mixture until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken and pour the fish sauce directly onto each chicken piece. Stir then cover and cook for 3 minutes.
- Uncover and flip the chicken over to sear the other side for 2 minutes, then add the water and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes covered until the chicken starts to feel tender. Skim the surface with a strainer to remove scum or excess fat.
- Add the chayote (or zucchini/green papaya) and simmer another 5 minutes covered.
- Add the moringa (or spinach) leaves and simmer another minute covered.
- Add salt or fish sauce to taste.
- Serve with white rice, topping the rice with crispy chicken skin if using.
