Tinolang Manok (Chicken Tinola)
Updated May 22, 2025
- Total Time
- About 1½ hours
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 1medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1(2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 6garlic cloves, minced
- 1 to 2whole Filipino or Thai chiles, plus more thinly sliced chiles for serving, if desired
- 4cups chicken stock
- Small handful of whole black peppercorns
- 2 to 3tablespoons fish sauce, preferably patis (Filipino fish sauce; see Tip), plus more for serving
- 2 to 3chayote, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced into 1-inch cubes
- 2 to 3cups chicken skin (optional), from the butcher
- 2cups packed whole moringa leaves or pepper leaves (fresh, or frozen and thawed) or baby bok choy (see Tip)
- Steamed jasmine rice, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1008 calories; 55 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 25 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 88 grams protein; 1658 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium. Working in batches as needed, add the chicken thighs and drumsticks skin side down to the pot and cook, undisturbed, until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp (or to your preferred level of color and crispness), 8 to 10 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the second side, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Step 2
Add the onion, ginger, garlic and whole chiles, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the garlic lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot.
- Step 3
Add the chicken stock, peppercorns, fish sauce and 2 cups water. Bring to a low simmer; cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Step 4
Skim off and discard the rendered fat from the top of the pot. Add the chayote and simmer on low, covered, for 10 minutes, until the chayote can be pierced easily with a fork but still offers some resistance, and the chicken is cooked through and tender.
- Step 5
If desired, while the chicken is cooking, make the crispy chicken skin topping: Working in batches if necessary, place the chicken skins in a single layer in an unheated nonstick pan and heat on medium. Fry until golden brown on both sides and crispy, letting the excess fat render out, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer the crispy skin to a paper-towel lined plate, to soak up any excess oil.
- Step 6
When the chicken is cooked through and just before serving, add the moringa leaves to the pot and cook 1 minute. Sample the broth and adjust seasonings to taste: There should be a gentle balance of flavors, with a hint of fish sauce.
- Step 7
Serve family-style with thinly sliced chiles (if using), rice, crispy chicken skin (if using) and fish sauce on the side for diners to season to their taste.
- Patis, Filipino fish sauce, is available at specialty grocers and online. It is saltier than the Thai or Vietnamese versions, but any Asian fish sauce will work here; simply adjust measurements to your taste.
- Slightly bitter and grassy, moringa leaves (also called drumstick or malunggay) can be found in Filipino and Indian markets. Pepper leaves (also called dahon ng sili) can be found in Filipino markets. If you can’t locate them, you can use two or three heads of baby bok choy, stem ends trimmed, leaves separated.
Private Notes
Comments
This one’s plenty authentic! I always side eye Filipinos who do this in public forums—you and I both know that every nanay and lola and tito has their own version of tinola.
Instead of chayote, I prefer green papaya, which is more traditional I thought. It's always lovely to read Ligaya Mishan's writing.
@Belinda M, exactly. Drives me nuts when I read things like this. Every kitchen, every province has their own version. "Refinements (major eye roll)". I'm Cebuana and I remember this nationally renowned foodie from Manila telling me she was shocked that we used sayote in Tinola instead of the "more authentic" green papaya. My Tita then told me that during the war, that's what they had more access to in the mountains so they got used to sayote. Out of necessity comes innovation and it is definitely not the end of the world to use it. Here in the UK, I use spinach. It's still Tinola!
I use leaves from bell pepper plants instead of malunggay, and a bit less fish sauce, but this is my go-to winter dish. I have friends that say it cured their colds when I made it for them when they were sick!
Authentic Filipino cooking is whatever we learned from our families, hehe. This is a wonderful recipe that reminded me of what my grandfather would make for me when I got sick as a kiddo. I never thought of the crispy skin topping before, will definitely be doing that from now on! It was a great addition.
Cooking a whole chicken (vs select parts) somehow is more tasty. Try it.
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