Sinampalukang Manok

I planned on Cooking another classic Filipino Dish - Chicken Tinola
for lunch except that I was in the mood for some experimentation.

I tried this Sinamalukang Manok dish from Mama Sita Fourth
generation cookbook ISBN 971-91219-0-4. The dish's sauteed
tomatoes, Onions, garlic, and ginger compounded by the
acid flavor of tamarind gives me the impression that this dish
originated from the Tagalog region.

As usual, I modified the recipe and provided below. It is a nice departure
from Chicken tinola that I was accustomed to eating from
my childhood days up to the present.

Here's my take on Sinampalukang Manok:

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp cooking oil
4 lbs. mixture of Chicken Thighs and Chicken wings
1 piece tomato chopped
2 (thumb sized) Ginger julienned
1 piece Onion chopped
4 tablespoon garlic minced
4 tbsp Tamarind base (Sinigang Mix) Powder
1 cup Green beans (AKA Baguio beans, French beans) cut 3 inches length
2 cups Chayote (Sayote) Squash cubed
2 cups Sili leaves or any green leafy vegetable
3 cups water
Patis (Asian Fish Sauce) to taste

Directions:
1. Cut the Chicken thighs to serving pieces using a butchers knife. Season the cut up chicken thighs and wings with salt and ground pepper.

2. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat cooking oil. Heat oil until it barely starts to smoke.

3. Fry the chicken pieces in batches. Turn the chicken pieces over using a tong. Transfer them to a plate when cooked.

4. In the same pot, saute garlic until sightly brown (burned garlic tastes bitter). Add the chopped onions until it turns opaque followed by the ginger.

5. Add the chopped tomato and saute until it start to thicken as in a paste.

6. Returned the cooked chicken pieces to the pot.

7. Add the water to the pot. Adjust the water by adding some more such
that the chicken pieces are barely covered.

8. Season the dish with Fish sauce.

9. Add the tamarind base powder.

10. Cover the pot, simmer in low heat for another 10 minutes.

11. Uncover the pot, and add the Chayote, green bean cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.

12. Turn off the heat and add the Sili leaves.

13. Serve warm with freshly cooked steamed rice.

Busy workperson’s Pochero

-Dish modification by Julius Sinlao

Pochero, is a Filipino stew dish with definite Spanish influence. With a rich combination of vegetables such as carrots, potato, cabbage, ‘saba’ banana, chopped onions, minced garlic, and meat such as brisket beef, and Chorizo de Bilbao (One of Spain's most popular cooking chorizo sausages) this dish is a definite delight after a tiring day at work.

I followed PinoyCook.net Pochero recipe. Click here to view the Recipe. I modified Connie Veneracion’s recipe to utilize the 3 1/2 quart slow cooker. I also decreased the ingredients size in order to accommodate the dish in a Slow cooker. I titled it “Busy workperson’s Pochero” because it utilizes a slow cooker,and could be convenient and tasty dish for (who else) the busy person.

Prepare the dish 30 minutes before leaving for work. Let it sit in the slow cooker at low setting all day. By the time you arrive home from work, the dish is ready to be served.

I’m forced to rewrite the whole cooking procedure since I decreased the ingredient amount; omitted an ingredient or two , and modified some of her procedures. Here’s my take on PinoyCook.net’s Pochero:

Serving: five

Ingredients:

5 ounces (2 sticks) of Chorizo de Bilbao

3 pounds brisket steak

1 white medium onion chopped

2 tablespoon garlic

2 plump tomatoes chopped

2 carrots coarsely chopped

1 - 6 ounce can tomato paste

1 - 15 ounce can tomato sauce

4 bay (laurel) leaves

4 pieces Saba Banana sliced 2 inch

Cabbage coarsely sliced

Salt and ground pepper for seasoning

Cooking Procedure:

1. In a frying pan, heat cooking until it is barely starts to smoke (not profusely smoking).

2. Sear the Brisket steak on the frying pan to seal in the juices in the meat. About 4 minutes each side.

3. Let the steak rest on a draining grate or a plate for about 5 to 10 minutes to allow it to cool down and allow the juices to circulate in the steak.

4. Cut the brisket to 1 inch cube.

5. Cut the vegetables to desired size.

6. In the slow cooker, place the vegetable and meat in layers, those longer to cook a the bottom most in this order:

· Bottom most layer: potato cubes

· Carrots

· Chopped onions and minced garlic

· Chopped tomatoes

· Saba bananas

· Brisket cubes

· Sliced Chorizo sausages

· Tomato paste

· Top most layer: Tomato sauce

7. Pour in the tomato paste and tomato sauce.

8. Add a cup of water.

9. Season with salt and ground pepper.

10. Cover the slow cooker. Set the slow cooker to low setting. Connect the slow cooker to a timer. Program the timer to run for eight hours. Plug in the timer to an electrical outlet.

11. Fast forward to late afternoon/early evening. Steam or boil the string beans and sliced cabbage in a pot or steamer to tenderize it.

12. Using a slotted spoon transfer the contents of the slow cooker in a wide bowl.

13. Combine the softened string beans and cabbage in the Pochero dish.

14. Serve the dish while it is hot.