Tinolang Manok (Chicken Soup)

Tinolang Manok (Chicken Soup)

We haven’t had soup for quite some time but with our growing kangkong in the terrace is growing so fast and are twining with the other herbs, I finally came to a moment like “you’ve got to cook something with kangkong tonight!” Checked the freezer what to get for dinner and yeah, something came up! Chicken soup (Nilat-ang Manok). What made this special is the lemon grass that I have sautéed with the onion and garlic that gave a magical asian aroma in the whole flat. I have to be honest, I am not used to sautéing with lemon grass because in Philippines, we use only the leafy part of lemon grass and we don’t sauté with it. Usually we tie the leaves into a knot and just include it while the soup is boiling. Little did I know about the white part of the lemon grass, near the roots, can be used. Usually, in the region where I grew up, we just discard them and use the green leaves instead. Here in Malaysia, they sauté it with almost everything with vegetables, rice or meat. The flavor is so mild and the aroma brings magic to anything fleshy.

Picture below is the lemon grass


Another factor that made this soup great is cooking the chicken a long time. Simmer for 2 hours. The flavors will just come out gently and cooking the chicken slowly until very tender.

Ingredients:
4 chicken drumsticks (or any bony part of chicken)
1 Onion (sliced)
1 clove Garlic (crushed)
2 sprigs of lemon grass (white part) (finely sliced)
Kangkong leaves
2 Spring onions (finely sliced)
4 String beans
1 carrot (sliced)
4 Potatoes (sliced in quarts)

Procedure:
Sautee onions, garlic and lemon grass until onion is translucent, add chicken and sauté few minutes more, add potatoes and carrots. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours.

Add the remaining vegetables on the last minute just before serving to avoid over cooking. Add the beans first, then kangkong and lastly the spring onions.

Chicken soup with taglierini

Chicken soup with taglierini

Ingredients:

1 Chicken Breast (sliced in cubes)

1 round of taglierini (about a handful)

1 potatoe (diced)

1 red pepper (sliced in squares)

1 green pepper (sliced in squares)

6 stalks of green beans (sliced)

1 onion (sliced thinly)

1 clove garlic (crushed)

4 cups water (or chicken stock)

1 T. vegetable oilSalt to taste

Preparation:

Sauté onion and garlic until onion complete soften. Add Chicken and stir fry for 1 minute. Add stock or water and bring to boil. Add diced potato and simmer for 5 minutes or until potatoes are done. Add beans and red and green peppers. Lastly add taglierini and cook for 2 minutes further. Serve hot.

Good for 2 – 3 servings

This reminds me of my childhood days, but we use misua instead. I just substituted with taglierini coz I can’t find misua here. Taglierini is an Italian egg noodle.

Potatoe Soup with croutons

Potato Soup with Croutons

Ingredients :
4 peeled potatoes
1 onion
7 cups water
croutons

How to:
Boil potatoes and onion until tender, blitz the mixture into a blender or food processor, add croutons and garnish with coriander. How to make croutons: Cut bread into small cubes and semi fry it with oil and garlic until sides turn slightly brown.

Sinigang sa Miso

Sinigang sa miso
(Fish Soup with Tamarind and Miso)

Sinigang sa miso is not very popular in visayas region in Philippines , however we have somehow similar dish we call “tinola” but we don’t put tamarind in it. I think it originated from Luzon, I’m not sure which region though. Philippines with 7,107 islands, you can imagine how many dishes each island has, assuming each island has 1 special dish, then Philippines itself has 7,107 dishes! Quite a lot huh! Somehow, I’m a stranger to my own country’s dishes. The figure explains it!

I really appreciate the effort of some Philippine companies who come up with easy to use sachets, combination of exotic flavors which all u need to do is pour over your soup. I brought some packs from Phil. Called “Sinigang sa miso” combination of tamarind and miso soup mix. I followed suggested preparation but added some twist.

It’s my first time doing it at home, and I love love love it! Even hubby said I should make it more often. I am so fascinated with this soup, its mild sourness, sweetness and hotness.

Ingredients:

½ kilo fish (I had red snappers)
1 clove garlic (diced)
2 white onions ( sliced in cubes)
4 large tomatoes (quartered)
4 cups water
1 chili
A handful of chili leaves
A handful of green beans
2 Tablespoons oil
1 pack sinigang sa miso soup mix

Procedure:
Sauté garlic, onions and tomatoes until onions are transparent and tomatoes are wilted. Add water and bring to boil. Add fish and bring to the boil again. Add green beans and simmer covered for 1 minute. Add chili and chili leaves and simmer for another minute. Serve hot.