Olympic chili coco chicken
August 17, 2008
Filed under Asia & beyond, Chicken, duck & turkey
We didn’t get to see the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics live on August 8. We would have missed it forever if it weren’t for a replay yesterday morning. I didn’t even know there was a scheduled replay until about 30 minutes before it started. I had to decide about lunch in those 30 minutes and I knew that to enjoy the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to the fullest, I’d have to cook a dish that would require minimum supervision. A slow-cooked dish was the solution.
It was a sure winner. The combination of chicken and coconut cream never fails to please my family, especially my girls. I don’t know if it was because I used canned tomatoes and canned coconut cream but lunch failed to please me.
Later last night, after a quick trip to the supermarket, we passed by the Manok ni Sr. Pedro stall on the corner just before entering the subdivision. I knew that the few pieces of chicken left over from lunch wouldn’t be enough for everyone and since it was too late to start cooking dinner at 8.00 p.m., cooked roast chicken was the most convenient solution. Besides, although I didn’t admit it to anyone, I wasn’t too hot about the leftovers considering how my chili coco chicken failed to impress me over lunch.
But lo, and behold! My husband who was out working earlier and who missed our chicken lunch was feasting with the leftovers. When the chili coco chicken was gone and he was obliged to eat the Sr. Pedro roast chicken, he still poured all the remaining chili coco chicken sauce over his rice. At that point, I already knew what had happened. And I already knew my mistake. I should have been nice enough to offer to eat the leftovers and shoved the Sr. Pedro chicken to everyone. Kidding, kidding. But, seriously, this dish is best served the day after.
Okay, so I missed about 20 minutes of the parade of nations. Big deal. I already saw the dances and Sarah Brightman and the parade of nations was the least exciting part of the program. I wasn’t dying to to see Manny Pacquiao carrying the Philippine flag anyway.
Choose meaty parts of the chicken for this dish. I recommend thighs and drumsticks. Place them in a bowl and, for every kilo and a half of chicken, add 2 tbsps. of salt, 1 tbsp. of pepper, 2 tbsps. of grated garlic, 2 tbsps. of grated ginger and 1 tbsp. of dried tarragon. Use twice as much tarragon if using fresh. Cover with cling film and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a preheated non-stick wok or frying pan (preheating the pan will make the chicken render fat quickly and you won’t have to add any cooking oil at all) and cook over high heat to brown.
You don’t have to brown the chicken very much. You just really want to sear the chicken pieces. And when they have browned moderately, remove them with a slotted spoon and pour off the oil rendered from the chicken skins. Be careful not to pour off any ginger or garlic. Then, return the chicken pieces to the pan.
To the chicken, add chili peppers. You can use mild, hot or very hot chilis depending on how spicy you want your cooked dish. You can also control the spiciness by using more or less chilis. Six picante chilis were just about right for me. Slit them along the middle for maximum flavor or scrape off the seeds for a milder spiciness.
If you can get your hands on fresh tomatoes, use them. It isn’t tomato season in the Philippines (they’re not so plump and red and juicy during the typhoon season) so I opted for canned tomatoes. If using fresh, about a kilo of tomatoes should do. Just dice them and add them to the pan.
Next, pour in two cups of coconut cream. Stir everything gently and bring to a soft boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for an hour to an hour and a half.
I know it looks delicious right after cooking but, trust me, you want to let it sit for a couple of hours, overnight in the fridge if possible, to allow the flavors to develop fully.
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this is heavenly!!! sarap. Of course I used our grass fed chickens, w/c I think made it more tasty.
I will link this recipe again from our blog
A small Filipino cafeteria-restaurant was serving this one day and I asked the cook what it was because its was strange to me. Parang adobo na parang ginataan na parang apritada. Ang tawag daw nuon sa kanila ay “adobada”. And she said it was adobo style that she add crushed tomato and tomato paste. Tapos siya na lang daw ang nag-imbento na dagdagan ng gata at sili. Hahhaha, mukhang masarap, pero hindi ako naka-bili dahil nabusog na ako sa usual order ko. With this post, I think I will try this recipe and serve it to my american son in law, he loves both coconut milk dishes, and my daughter loves tomato base chicken meal. Ayos, covered sila pareho. Now, let’s see kung magustuhan ni amerikanong mister.
EbbaMyra, kwento ka agad kung nagustuhan ha. My son kasi is leaving for a 2week vacation and nagiisip ako ano magandang pasalubong. Parang I can cook this and vacuum pack it in batches.
Hi Ms. Connie,
I am especially proud of my bicol heritage. And what a joy it is that that only do you and your family love coconut milk, you have also placed it a notch higher in your readers’ options for meals.
Mabalos saimo, Ms. Connie.
off-topic: Over the long weekend, I made cassaca bibingka with custard topping following your recipe. I’m not sure if it was a hit. However, judging from the fact that my very picky eater eldest girl’s cries to be fed with what she called “sava” pronto, plus the househelp’s hovering near the turbo (which I had to use for want of an oven), perhaps it was. And it was all thanks to you. Now I can look at the commercial cassava cake then make ismid and mutter, “I can do that better.”teehee.
i think there are really dishes best eaten a day after they’re cooked. i’ve experienced that w/ dinuguan mas masarap pag bukas pa kakainin. maybe adding some tanglad leaves to the coco cream sauce will give it a delicious twist.. try ko yan, connie.
Hi connie,
Reminds me of my mother-in-law’s recipe. Masarap talaga and to have a twist, she also adds potatoes, carrots and some mashed chicken livers (sometimes liver spread, for convenience), for added flavor. Tawag naman nya dito, chicken caldereta. anyway it’s called, basta masarap e.
Chicken and coconut cream go so well together. Very Filipino and reminds me of home.
Kahapon ko lang naresearch ang website nyo, ng nghahanap ako ng kare kare recipe online, and found this chicken recipe. since I have the ingredients sa bahay na, try ko un methods mo to cook it, it is good! pero ala kami sili sa supermarket, kaya bell pepper ang nilagay ko, at may natira ako carrots para dun sa morcon mo rin, nilagay ko rin so mas naging cute ang kulay, at may green, red, orange and white.hahaha i even took a picture of it. i really like the idea you are doing, so maybe i will start taking pictures of what I cook. salamat talga.
I also cook this frequently but i add about a tablespoon of ground paste made of equal portions tumeric, coriander, salt, bagoong and red chili flakes. A little patis is also nice. Adds a lot of complex flavors. =)
Thanks for this recipe! Tried it a few weeks ago and my husband liked it. I modified it last night and used shrimp instead of chicken, cilantro instead of tarragon and it was a big hit!