The Chicken Binakol (Binakol Na Manok) is a nice comfort food during the weekends where you just want to hang out with your family and loved ones. It has the right balance of sweetness and sourness and you will surely savor every moment.
You can experience this nice and warm feeling too, just read this recipe article and learn how to make the famous and super delicious chicken binakol now! Don’t miss out on the tips, as well as some trivia included here to help you along the way.
What is Chicken Binakol?
The chicken binakol is a popular Filipino dish, especially in the Aklan province in the Visayas area.
It is a Filipino chicken soup made out of chicken that is then cooked in coconut water along with young coconut meat, green papaya or chayote, some leafy vegetables, and the usual seasonings and spices such as garlic, onion, ginger, lemongrass, and fish sauce.
You may notice that it’s similar to the Chicken Tinola except for use of coconut water and coconut meat.
The traditional way of cooking it is done by pounding or beating down the dressed native chicken to make the meat even more tender.
It is then cut into serving pieces, then slow-cooked in coconut water using bamboo tubes or half-cut coconut shells along with the garlic, onions, ginger, and lemongrass. Batuan leaves or fruits are usually added for an additional sourness to the dish.
Why is Native Chicken Usually Used When Cooking Chicken Binakol?
As mentioned earlier the traditional and more common way of cooking this dish involves native chicken instead of the commercially available ones and there are reasons why.
Native chicken is usually used because it is all-natural, it has leaner meat, and has a distinctive taste. Its meat is much tougher and will require more cooking time to be tender, this results to more flavors released during the cooking time.
Since the dish originated from the Visayas region, the native chicken used is called Manok Bisaya or Darag. This chicken is antibiotic and hormone free, high in protein, and less in fat content.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Chicken
To cook this dish, we will be using a whole chicken which we will cut into serving pieces. You may also use equal amount of a specific chicken part if you prefer.
Buko (Young Coconut)
We will also use both the buko meat and the buko juice (coconut water) for this dish.
Aside from these, we will also be using other regular pantry ingredients like onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, sayote, lemongrass, salt, black pepper, and cooking oil. If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Cooking Pot (Kaldero)- Binakol is a one pot dish and you will be needing the same cooking pot for the whole process. Since this is a soup dish, you have to use a deep pot or casserole.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Cook Chicken Binakol
After everything you read earlier, you would think that cooking chicken binakol is a hard task because of the number of ingredients and the methods involved for cooking.
But don’t sweat it, even amateurs can try cooking this dish and will most likely be successful. All you have to do is to make the preparations for the ingredients, and then cook them.
For the preparations, you’re going to slice away the ingredients in small serving sizes. For the chicken, the preferred parts in this recipe are thigh parts and leg parts. It contains bones and meat. And these bones actually help in bringing out the full flavor of the chicken once we simmer it.
Do not fret if you opt to use boneless chicken parts, it is also an acceptable choice since it will make the job easier. The chicken binakol will still be flavorful nonetheless.
Cooking the ingredients is a straightforward process. It’s just a matter of tossing in the ingredients into a large cooking pot, one after the other.
When simmering the chicken, do try to make it as long as possible because it will bring out a lot of flavor from the chicken when it’s done, but make sure that it is not to the point where it is about to break apart.
Cooking Tips
- For the coconut, choose the ones that are fresh and the most meaty ones but are still tender so it will be easier to eat.
- When choosing what kind of chicken to buy when you’re in the market, pick the ones where it’s indicated that it’s a native chicken. This is the perfect chicken to use for the binakol since the bones from the chicken bring the best flavor for the binakol.
How to Serve Chicken Binakol
Chicken binakol is best served hot alongside freshly cooked white rice. It commonly served as a main dish for lunch or dinner and is a bestseller during the rainy days. You may opt to serve a patis dipping sauce at the side.
How to Store and Reheat Chicken Binakol
In case you have leftovers, transfer to a clean food container with lid. You can refrigerate this for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply pour into a pot of adequate size and apply low-medium heat until hot enough to eat. Alternatively, you can also use a microwave oven.
Other Filipino Chicken Recipes
- Authentic Chicken Inasal Recipe
- Pininyahang Manok (Filipino Pineapple Chicken) Recipe
- Filipino Chicken Curry Recipe
- Chicken Afritada (Afritadang Manok) Recipe
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Authentic Chicken Binakol Recipe
Equipment
- Cooking Pot
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs) chicken (native chicken if available), cut into serving pieces
- 3 cups coconut juice (buko juice)
- 1½ cup young coconut meat (buko), grated
- 1 pc chayote (sayote), cut into cubes
- 1 pc medium-sized onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pc thumb-sized ginger, cut into thin strips
- 2 stalks lemongrass, white parts cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp fish sauce (patis)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a cooking pot, pour-in and heat oil over medium heat.
- Add-in the garlic, ginger, and onions. Saute until tender and aromatic.
- Add-in the chicken. Cook until all sides are browned.
- Add-in the fish sauce, and then add-in the coconut juice. Bring to a boil.
- Add-in the lemongrass. Lower the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
- Add-in the chayote. Cook until softened
- Add-in the young coconut meat and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer to a serving tray or serving bowl. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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