Glenn Aspe Online

Most Filipinos never let their guests go hungry. That’s one Filipino way of taking care of their guests. To give a warm welcome to their homes, they often serve Tinolang Manok to their guests.

One of the many popular dishes in the Philippines is known as Tinolang Manok. It is otherwise known as Chicken Ginger Soup. Pretty much like the chicken soup our moms used to make with an Asian twist due to the ginger. Each province in the Philippines would its own version of Tinolang Manok. They’re all based on a single theme — chicken and ginger.

You can’t say that Tinolang Manok is Tinolang Manok without the ginger. The ginger gives the Tinolang Manok a special Asian aroma and taste. Without ginger, the Tinolang Manok would lose its identifying zest and appeal.

Now here’s how to cook Tinolang Manok. Let’s begin with the ingredients of this dish. We would need the following to make Tinolang Manok:

A half kilo of Chicken, chopped into pieces.
Four cups of chicken stock. (If you don’t have chicken stock you can use a chicken bullion cube mixed in four cups of water. This can be bought in any Filipino store)
One medium-sized green papaya, peeled and cut into cubes.
Three cups of chili leaves, spinach, or pechay.
Two cloves of garlic, crushed.
One tablespoon crushed ginger.
Two tablespoons of sliced onions.
Four tablespoons cooking oil.
Two tablespoons of Fish Sauce (Patis)

Now that we have all our ingredients, here’s how we cook Tinolang Manok. First, we heat the oil in a stockpot and saute the ginger, onion and garlic. Remember to saute the ginger much longer than the onion and garlic. This is so you can enhance the essence of the ginger of the Tinolang Manok (big cooking secret, keep that in mind).

After you saute the spices, add the chopped chicken and saute until the chicken is partly cooked. Put in the fish sauce (this can also be bought at a Filipino store), stir for few seconds and add the chicken stock. Let it boil and simmer until 20 minutes. Add the papaya into the pot and let it cook. Turn off the heat and add the chili leaves and toss. Serve the Tinolang Manok while it’s hot. It is best served with rice.

There are many popular dishes in the Philippine islands. One of these is the famous Tinolang Manok. Like our mom’s homemade chicken soup, it is relaxing, tasty, and the chicken meat is in perfect harmony with steaming rice. Tinolang Manok is a Filipino dish that will welcome you to every Filipino home.