Simple Chicken Tinola

It is a chilly wintertime in Australia as I write this, less than two years since I moved here. I have been missing the home-cooked meals back home from the Philippines and have been resigned to accepting that I can’t make even a simple chicken tinola here because I never see green papaya (or indeed, any papaya) in supermarkets.

But one day I finally found them. Not the green, unripe ones, but ripe orange ones. I decided it will have to do, which is not a bad thing in any way. I find that I particularly enjoy the subtle sweetness of a semi-ripe, orange-hued papaya in my tinola.

I am happy to report that this simple chicken tinola is so easy to make. I am just half an hour of relaxed cooking away from a steaming taste of home.

Chicken Tinola

A hearty Filipino chicken soup in a ginger broth, with green or semi-ripe papaya pieces.

500 g chicken pieces, bone-in
¼ semi-ripe papaya, (sliced into thick slivers)
½ white onion, (chopped)
4 cloves garlic, (chopped)
2-3 tbsp ginger, (large slices if you want to avoid eating them)
small handful spinach leaves, (traditionally local hot pepper leaves (dahon ng sili))
3 tbsp fish sauce (patis)
2 tbsp oil, (for sauteeing)
salt & pepper, (to taste)
water, (to cover)

Heat oil in a medium pot and saute garlic, onion and ginger until fragrant.
Put in chicken pieces and fill with water until just covering the chicken.
Add fish sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.
After simmering, add in semi-ripe papaya and spinach leaves. Simmer for another 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
Taste the broth and adjust seasonings using salt and pepper and/or more fish sauce (patis) for more flavour.
Serve hot in a bow, with rice on the side.

Main Course

Filipino

Another easy to cook dish to remind of home in the Philippines, check out this simple recipe for Filipino Beef Giniling. Happy cooking!