Tinola Manok Soup Recipe: Earthy Philippines Ginger Flavoured Chicken Soup with Chilli Pepper Leaves and Green Papaya

Chicken Tinola Manok Soup Recipe

Tinola manok in Tagalog, or la uya in Ilocano is a chicken soup originally from Philippines cuisine. Traditionally, tinola manok is cooked with chicken, wedges of green papaya, and chilli pepper leaves. The basic tinola soup broth flavored comes from ginger, garlic, onions and fish sauce. This earthy and comfort chicken soup recipe  usually served in rainy season. Tinola manok or chicken tinola is usually served as an appetizer soup in Phillipines restaurant.

Chicken Tinola Soup (Tinolang Manok) Recipe

Tinola manok is  actually a flexible dish, you can substitude with available ingredients nearby. Chicken can be substitude with pork or even frog.  Green papaya or unmatured/young and unripe papaya can be substitute with chayote squash. The chili leaves can be substiture either with spinach or moringa leaves or known as marungay in Cebuano or daun kelor in Bahasa Indonesia.  I’m using ayam kampung or malay chicken, this chicken similiar to free ranged chicken that got leaner and thoughter meat than regular chicken. The flavour is much more superb than the regular chicken, but it takes much more longer cooking period to release all the collagen the flavour, that’s made this soup is taste so special.

Green Papaya

How does chilli leaves taste, that’s my first question when i firstly known about tinola soup. First you should know that the leaves of any chili pepper plant are edible. The chilli pepper leaves got mildly bitter taste and nothing hot like the fruit, but i can taste the very mild peppery when you bite the matured leaves. Chilli pepper leaves can be used as a regular green veggies like stir fry or even veggies fritter. Chilli leaf is also used in korea as a ingredient for making kimchi.

Chilli Pepper Plant

Chili Pepper Leaves for making Chicken Tinola Soup (Tinolang Manok)

Tinola manok or sometimes pronounced as tinolang manuk is usually got a clear broth. The chicken is usually boiled in separated pan and don’t forget to put the chicken pieces right after the water boiling. Once  the chicken is boiled, some dirty scum and also foam wil be floating  on the top of the broth. Skim off all of it  with a large spoon. When the foam stops (about 15 minutes), reduce heat, cover the soup and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. The chicken tinola soup broth got light ginger and garlic flavour, that’s why usually i just stir fry the garlic, onion and ginger just until fragrance and not even slightly browned and than pouring water for boiling the chicken. This following technique made a tasty chicken tinola soup with pleasant clear broth.

Chicken Tinola Soup (Tinolang Manok) Recipe

Chicken Tinola Soup (Tinolang Manok) Recipe:

• 1 Chicken, cut into bite size
• 1 small green papaya, sliced into small pieces (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups chilli pepper leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, bruised
• 6 cm ginger,  thinly sliced
• ½ onion, roughtly chopped
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1.5 L water
• salt and pepper to taste

Instruction:

• Heat up oil in a wok pan, saute the onion, garlic and ginger until fragrance, DO NOT let it BROWNED
• Add the water, bring it to boil
• Put the chicken pieces, season with salt, peper and fish sauce, let it boil once again
• Skim off and discard any scum and foad that floating on top of the broth
• Once the foam is not shown, reduce the heat and put the lid cover, let it simmer for almost tender enought
• You can strain the broth and keep the chicken pieces, discard the ginger, garlic and onion *optional
• Put it the chicken piece into the broth again, put the green papaya and bring it to boil until the green papaya is tender enought
• Nearly done, add the chilli pepper leaves and bring it to boil once again
• Turn off the heat and serve immediately

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