The authentic and most famous Filipino dish. Tinola in Tagalog and Cebuano, or la uya in Ilokano – is a soup-based dish served as an main entree in the Philippines .Traditionally, this dish is cooked with chicken, wedges of green papaya and leaves of the siling labuyo in broth flavored with ginger, onions and fish sauce. A common variant substitutes sayote instead of papaya, malunggay or kamunggay (in Cebuano), instead of pepper leaves.
In my recipe, I prefer using whole native chicken, which is said to be a healthier alternative, though the meat is tougher and requires a longer time to cook. But it’s so delicious and nutritious! As a traditional dish, the chicken is usually cooked in low heat for quite some time to let all the flavors of the chicken come out and it also makes the chicken tender.
I always add the seasoning early so that the meat will absorb the flavor.
After cleaning. Put the chopped celery and onion leeks inside the chicken’s cavity. In medium size pot , heat olive oil over medium heat sauté ginger, garlic, tomato and onion until translucent and fragrant. Add the whole chicken and sauté until chicken colors slightly change into pale. Season with patis and pepper. Add water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is tender. Add malunggay pods. Cook for 3 minutes or until malunggay is done. Remove from heat . Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve hot with white steamed rice. Enjoy.
The chicken is flavorful, juicy and tender.
The malunggay pods are the most valued and widely used part of the plant. Malunggay pods contains essential amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients. Malunggay pods may be eaten raw or may be prepared or cooked.
1 whole native chicken , 1 tbsp. olive oil , 2 cups malunggay pods ,1/2 cup ginger, 1 pc onion garlic, tomato, onion leeks, celery, lemon grass and green chilli, star anise, pepper and salt . I used malunggay pods instead of leaves. Or you can use cabbage and spinach if malunggay and siling labuyo leaves are not available.
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