Dish of Chicken & Green Papaya Stew
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Chicken & Green Papaya Stew


Philippines   -   Tinolang Manok or Tinola
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 main
***
a hr
Most		 A very popular dish in the Philippines, sometimes made with chayote instead of green papaya. Leaves are essential, but if you don't have chili leaves, there are alternatives.

1-3/4
14
6
2
1
8
2
5
2
1
#
oz
oz
cl
in
oz
T
c
T
t
Chicken (1)
Green Papaya (2)  
Onion
Garlic
Ginger root
Chili Leaves (3)
Oil
Stock (4)
Fish Sauce (5)
Salt
Prep   -   (25 min)
  1. Cut CHICKEN into pieces about 1-1/2 inch to a side. If using whole chicken parts (legs, thighs, wings) chop each part in half crosswise.
  2. Peel PAPAYA, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out white seeds. Cut into cubes 3/4 inch on a side.
  3. Cut ONION in half lengthwise and slice fairly thin crosswise. Crush GARLIC and slice thin. Slice GINGER ROOT thin, then cut into narrow matchsticks. Mix all.
  4. Remove CHILI LEAVES from stems, or thaw if using frozen.
Run   -   (45 min)
  1. Heat Oil in a spacious sauté pan or Dutch oven and fry Onion Mix stirring for about 1 minute. Stir in Chicken and fry stirring until you get light browning on the bottom of the pan.
  2. Stir in Water, Fish Sauce and Salt. Cover, turn heat low and simmer until chicken is tender, about 20 minutes for boneless pieces, 30 minutes for bone-in joints.
  3. Stir in Papaya, bring back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in Chili Leaves, bring back to a boil and simmer another 3 minutes for fresh leaves, 1 minute for frozen.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken:

      The weight given is for boneless skinless pieces (preferably thigh). In the Philippines a whole 3 pound chicken might be used, or halved or whole bone-in skin-on thigh, leg and wing joints (about 2-1/4 pounds). For buffet service, I favor just meat with stock for more flavor (see Note-4).

  2. Green Papaya:

      This must be bought specifically as "green papaya" from an Asian market, not just a greenish regular one. The seeds inside should be pure white and the flesh a very pale green, almost white. If you can't get one use chayote squash but give it a bit more cooking time to get tender. For details see our Papayas page.

  3. Chili Leaves:

      8 ounces would be for whole stems, and would yield about 4 or 5 ounces of leaves and tender tips. Fresh chili leaves are available only erratically even in the Philippine markets of Los Angeles. Fortunately there are alternatives.

  4. Stock:

      This can be a quite light stock or broth. Since I usually make mine pretty strong, I dilute it to about half with water. Filipinos don't make soup stock in advance (lack of refrigerator space) so they use just water and compensate with bone-in skin-on chicken for flavor. I find that less convenient, particularly for buffet service. For how to have soup stock conveniently on hand, see our Soup Stock page.

  5. Fish Sauce:

      This clear liquid is as essential to Southeast Asian cuisine as it was to Imperial Rome. If you are unfamiliar with it, see our Fish Sauce - Introduction page.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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