Of all the many delicious Filipino dishes there are, what’s your favorite? A lot of people would definitely have tinola in their list! Tinola is known as a comforting dish that one definitely craves especially when sick.
Its secret ingredient – ginger – gives a soothing and comforting feeling. Best to savor when you are suffering from a cold or flu.
Where did Tinola come from?
Photo by Panlasang Pinoy
Tinola is a ginger broth soup that is usually made with chicken, sayote or green papaya, and malunggay or chili pepper leaves. To make it flavorful, it is infused with garlic, and fish sauce. Pork and seafood tinola recipes are also popular to some.
It is said to be Jose Rizal’s favorite food, which he filled with allegorical connotations in the opening sections of Noli Me Tangere. Rizal’s unique chicken tinola recipe was the subject of his final work, Mi Ultimo Adios, which was completely revised after his death by his mortified siblings.
Tinola was mentioned in Chapter 3 of Noli Me Tangere as follows: For dinner, Capitan Tiago made Tinolang Manok. Padre Damaso received the papaya vegetable and chicken neck, whereas Ibarra received the gizzard and chicken breast, which is one of the tastiest sections of the delicious dish. Padre Damaso irritably dropped the spoon and set down the dish after a sip of hot Tinola soup because he was envious and irritated with Ibarra.
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Tinolang Manok Health benefits
Did you know that tinola has a lot of health benefits for your family? Not only is it simple to make, and the ingredients really easy to acquire, it’s also a delicious and healthy meal that will make your family super healthy!
Here are the Tinolang Manok health benefits:
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Tinola benefits: Malunggay has tons of vitamins and minerals
Malunggay is loaded with vitamins A, B, and C, calcium, protein, and potassium. A lot of diabetics also say that eating malunggay has helped reduce their blood sugar levels.
Malunggay’s also pretty cheap, and readily available! So make sure to add a little bit extra malunggay the next time you make your tinola!
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Onions and garlic can help reduce the risk of cancer
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
There have been a number of studies that have shown that onions and garlic can reduce the risk of cancer. Aside from being tasty, they also reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer.
So the next time you’re cooking tinola, keep in mind that not only do onions and garlic make it tasty, it also makes it super healthy! Definitely, tinola benefits are top tier!
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Tinola benefits: Chili leaves are detoxifying and has diuretic effects
Chili leaves are a significant medicine in traditional medicine, with a wide range of medicinal applications and health effects. Chili leaves have a bitter taste, as well as cooling, detoxifying, and diuretic benefits.
It demonstrates a lot of Tinola benefits such as:
- Good for diabetic patients
- Can relieve pain
- Improves digestion
- Treats Arthritis
- Can cure wounds and even pimples
- Helps reduce fever
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Papaya is chock-full of antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that help fight free radicals in your body. Basically, antioxidants help keep your body strong, and feeling young.
Papaya is also a great source of fiber, and magnesium. Fiber keeps your bowel movements regular, and magnesium promotes nerve and muscle development.
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Tinola benefits: Ginger soothes your throat and stomach
Of course, ginger has long been used in the country as medicine. Drinking ginger tea helps soothe sore throats, and helps calm down an upset stomach.
So it’s no wonder that the tasty root can enhance the health benefits that tinola has! Ginger also fights inflammation, and can also alleviate nausea.
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Hot soup just feels good when you eat it!
Ever wonder why eating soup whenever you’r sick automatically makes you feel better? That’s because the warmth of the soup helps warm your body up so that you feel better.
And if you’re slurping on some tinola broth, then you’re also getting the amazing health benefits that all of the ingredients have. Which is why the next time somebody in your family comes down with a fever, why not try serving them a nice warm bowl of tinola? Who knows, it might just be what their body needs.
What do you put in your Tinola: papaya or sayote?
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In cooking Tinola, you can switch up between ingredients as there are substitutes you can choose from. Papaya or sayote? Malunggay or chili leaves?
Most use green papaya instead of sayote but how did people come to choose this as a substitute? It most likely be because they are quite similar:
- They are prepared the same way by washing, peeling, scraping off the seeds, and slicing into quarters or serving sizes.
- Both have a delicate flavor that pairs well with the Tinola’s ginger broth taste.
- They also cook to a comparable level of softness. When cooked to perfection, they turn into a lovely translucent green that is both soft and crunchy.
While papaya is a better, more nutritious choice than sayote, both can be a great source of nutrients and will taste will with the ginger broth. It’s up to you, what you prefer.
What are the nutrients in Tinolang Manok?
According to the Nutritionix, a bowl of Tinolang Manok has 286 calories and contains the following significant ingredients:
- 14 grams of Vegetable Oil
- 17 grams of Onion
- ½ gram of Garlic
- 71 gram of Fresh Ginger
- 5 grams of Fish sauce
- 5 g of Whole Chicken
- 33 oz of Chicken broth
- 33 g of Chayote squash/Sayote
Follow this Tinolang Manok recipe!
Photo by Teona Swift from Pexels
Chicken tinola recipe
A popular Filipino cooking website, Panlasang Pinoy, shares how one can cook this ginger broth and gain the benefits of Tinolang Manok.
Tinola ingredients
Here are tinola ingredients that you will need in cooking chicken tinola
- 2 lbs. chicken cut into serving pieces
- 1 cup malunggay leaves
- 1 cup hot pepper leaves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 piece unripe papaya wedged
- 6 cups water
- 1 piece Knorr chicken cube
- 1 piece onion sliced
- 4 cloves garlic crushed and chopped
- 3 thumbs ginger julienne
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce patis
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Chicken tinola recipe: Steps on how to cook tinola
Here’s a step-by-step procedure on how to cook tinola:
- In a pot, heat the oil.
- Garlic, onion, and ginger should be sautéed. Add the black pepper, ground.
- Add the chicken when the onion begins to soften. Cook for 5 minutes, or until a light brown color appears.
- Pour 6 cups of water into the container. Allow to come to a boil. Cover and reduce to a low heat setting. Boil for 40 minutes.
- Scoop the scums and oil from the soup and discard them.
- Add the chayote or papaya and the Knorr chicken cube. Stir. Cook for 5 minutes with the lid on.
- Pour the fish sauce over the malunggay and hot pepper leaves in the pot. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Done! Serve warm and enjoy your hearty Tinolang Manok ginger broth!
Tips to make it more flavorful for tinola benefits:
- When boiling meat, reduce the heat to a low setting. It’s sometimes best to keep it on a low heat (this is a point where the temperature of the water is near boiling). Do it this manner to ensure that all of the meat’s tastes are thoroughly extracted when the flesh is soft.
- Make sure there are no scums or oil floating in the soup. A wide spoon can be used for this. Add the chicken cube once the soup is clean of scums. This component enhances the flavor of the soup. After that, the veggies like chayote, malunggay (moringa), and spicy pepper leaves are added. Season the meal with fish sauce.
Shop online!
It’s unbelievable but you can actually do your weekly market shopping online! It is easy and safe, especially that most of us are trying to stay home because of the pandemic.
Check out these links we’ve compiled for your Tinolang Manok cooking and get ready to get all that Tinolang Manok health benefits!
1. Mamasita’s Tinola Mix
2. Green Earth – Fresh Cut Chicken
3. Farm Fresh Village Ginger
4. Sayote from Zagana
5. Green Papaya from Zagana
6. Knorr Chicken Cubes
Note that these are available in Metro Manila only. Most of them do next day delivery.
