Chicken Tinola
My family loves fried chicken, so I usually indulge them. I on the other hand get so tired of it, I make something else for myself. I take the backs and wing tips, which no one really likes but me anyway, and I usually make either tinola or arroz caldo. I didn’t really have the usual vegetables for tinola, so I used cabbage and baby bok choy from our garden. It still came out pretty good.
Chicken pieces (I used the backs and wings, but you can use any pieces you like)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 inch fresh ginger, sliced
1/2 head of small cabbage
1/2 lb. of baby bok choy
Patis (fish sauce)
3 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Heat the oil and sautee the garlic, ginger and onions until fragrant. Add the chicken pieces and fish sauce (start with about 2 tablespoons and add more later if needed). Sautee for a few minutes, and add the water. Let it simmer until the chicken is tender. When the chicken is done, check the broth for seasoning and adjust. Add the vegetables, and cook just until they are wilted or changes color. If you like your vegetables more done, you can cook it longer. We like ours to still have a little bite to them.
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November 15th, 2004 at 9:03 pm
Thanks for posting this recipe! I was out surfing for recipes and found yours. My Lola’s recipe doesn’t have papaya in it, though.
It’s funny, but I didn’t grow up with tinola with papaya. Growing up in the Seattle area, there’s not much call for good papaya back in the 60s/70s. So my lola omitted it and I’ve never really thought much about how different it tastes from the ‘authentic.’
She also skipped the patis since high blood pressure ran in our family and the fish sauce tended to aggrevate it.
November 16th, 2004 at 11:22 am
Hi Bec, thanks for visiting. I too have had a hard time looking for the traditional tinola ingredients, like green papaya and sili leaves, so I improvise. Chayote which is now pretty common in grocery stores is a pretty good substitute for green papaya.
July 28th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
I sometimes use jackfruit and malunggay as a vegetable substitute. It’s available in many frozen section of asian stores like 99 ranch or Lyons.
July 28th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Hi Erwin, I’ve heard malunggay used for tinola before, my lola did the same, but I have never heard for jackfruit before! I am assuming you’re talking about the green jackfruit instead of the ripe?
Unfortunately, we don’t have 99 ranch here. I love 99 ranch! You must be in CA?
October 8th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Interesting…i growing up in MN I only ever had cabbage in the tinola my lola made. She also added sutanhon (sp?)…celephane rice noodles. Ive always been interested how pinoy recipes have been somewhat altered to fit the local landscape. We never had problems finding patis though!
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
[…] people because they were so flavorful. The Asian Pork and Noodle Soup tasted a bit like the Filipinos’ Tinola (due to the scent and taste of ginger) and the Cheesy Chicken Pasta Stew was to die […]