Tinolang manok (Filipino ginger chicken soup)
65 min · 40 g protein · 521 cals / serving
The Filipino soup that tastes like home: chicken on the bone simmered in a clear, gingery broth seasoned with fish sauce, with soft wedges of green papaya or chayote and a big handful of greens wilted in at the end. Gentle, peppery and warming, and eaten with a bowl of steamed rice to spoon the broth over.
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 2 thumb-size pieces ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
- 2 1/4 lb bone-in thighs and drumsticks chicken thigh, skin removed, cut into serving pieces
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 cups water, or the water from rinsing the rice
- 2 chayotes or 1 small green papaya chayote, peeled, seeded and cut into wedges
- 4 big handfuls spinach, or malunggay (moringa) or chilli leaves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To serve
- 1 cup jasmine rice, steamed
Steps
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook 3–4 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft and the ginger smells sharp and sweet.
- Add the chicken and cook 3–4 minutes, turning, until it turns opaque and lightly golden in places. Pour in the fish sauce and let it sizzle for a minute: this is where the broth gets its savoury base.
- Add the water and the stock cube, bring to a boil and skim off any foam. Lower the heat, partly cover and simmer 25 minutes, until the chicken is nearly tender.
- Add the chayote or papaya and simmer 10–15 minutes more, until it is tender but still holds its shape and the chicken reaches 165°F at the bone. Meanwhile cook the rice.
- Turn off the heat, stir in the greens and pepper and cover for 2 minutes to wilt them. Taste and add a little more fish sauce if it needs salt.
- Serve in deep bowls with the rice on the side.
Good to know
Green papaya or chayote?
Green papaya is the classic and turns silky; chayote, which most supermarkets carry, stays a little firmer and tastes almost the same. Ripe orange papaya is too sweet and falls apart, so skip it.
Why use rice-rinsing water?
Many Filipino cooks do: the starchy water from washing the rice gives the broth a little more body. Plain water works perfectly well.
Can I use chicken breast?
Yes, bone-in breast pieces work, though the broth is less rich. Add them 10 minutes later than thighs so they stay juicy, at about 81 instead of 77.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 62
- Protein
- (31%)
- 5 g
- Fat
- (28%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (41%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 171 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2086 kcal goes into the pot and 3149 g of ingredients comes out as about 3380 g of food: 62 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.