How to cook Tinola (Barci style)

Happy!

That's how I am, hours after posting my last entry I received some warm reception. Finally had my first comment here. Posted by a foreigner. At least now, I know this space is gaining some sort of fanfare and I'm not just wasting time here harhar!

Just another commercial before I post something about my life again.

I'm about to teach you how to cook a Tinola. Tinola is an old favorite Philippine dish, Tinola or chicken ginger stew as Wikipedia translates it, is a very easy to cook and is best suited taken during these cold and rainy seasons. Mind you: I'm not an expert cook but I've served this stuff to many's delight.

Warning: Please always be careful when handling sharp materials such as knives, keep out of children's reach, And please keep them out of people who have suicidal tendencies and people who have tendencies to run amok.

Now that I've gotten it out of my systems here are our ingredients:

• 1 kilo chicken, cut in serving pieces
• 2 sayote quartered
  
• 2 potatoes, quartered
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 thumb-size ginger root, cut into strips
• 3 tablespoon patis (fish sauce, yeah that foul smelling one)
• 4 cups of water
  
• 1 bundle of chilli leaves (sili)
• Black pepper crushed
  
• 2 chicken bullion cubes

Procedure:

In your sauce pan, heat your cooking oil after a minute or two saute the garlic, onion and ginger until it's natural fragrance reaches your nose, add the patis and the chicken bullion (this is the trick, because the bullion itself is a ready mixture making your tinola as tasty as you want it to be) add the Chicken let it simmer (is this the correct term?) with the bullion and the other spices, leave for 7-8 minutes.

Pour in the water, add some black pepper for more taste. Add the potatoes, you want them soft but not so soft as it was mashed. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the sayote, again you want this soft but don't over do it. Let it cook for another 4 minutes. Remember that you can add some patis if your still not satisfied with the taste.

Lastly, add the sili leaves.

Turn off the heat, put it in a serving dish, and voila! You're ready to eat your tinola...



PS. Please don't send me hate mails if your tinola don't taste good, you're the one who cooked it not me. I just gave you some instructions. hehe...

Until next time again! :D