A Scientist in the Kitchen

I’ve tasted chicken binacol in the cafeteria before but have yet to cook it. It is simply tinola with buko meat. Or so I thought. The Food Magazine (August 2008) was really a good buy for me as there several recipes that interested me. This chicken binacol is one of them. This dish was served by Glenda Baretto at the Aichi Expo in 2005.

The ingredients call for the ingredients for tinola – ginger, chicken, sili leaves, patis. It also required the use of lemongrass which I think made all the difference.  I guess the cafeteria version didn’t use lemongrass, as most Tagalogs don’t use this wonderful herb. But it really enhanced the flavor of the broth, that from now on, my chicken tinola would have it. The buko meat and water, lemongrass and sili leaves are all from the garden.

Chicken Binacol
- adapted from Food Magazine (August 2008)

2 tbsp oil
2 1-inch knob of ginger, smashed
2 tbsp patis/fish sauce
1 whole chicken cut into serving pieces
1 lemongrass, stem smashed
3 cups water
4 cups buko (young coconut) water
1 1/2 cups coconut meat
1 cup sili leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the ginger. Saute for a minute then add the patis. Add the chicken and stir to coat the chicken with the ginger and oil. Let simmer without adding water till chicken has turned white. Add the water and lemongrass, simmer till chicken has cooked. Taste it at this point. You’ll be tempted with the whiff of lemongrass so much you wouldn’t want to proceed to the next step! When chicken is cooked, separate the chicken from the broth and strain the broth. Place the broth to a clean pot and boil. Add the buko water then bring to a boil again. Add the chicken and buko meat. Let it boil, then simmer for a few minutes. At this point, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sili leaves and cover pot for a minute. Serve hot.

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