The Chicken Pastel is something we’ve all been waiting for, because it brings us a sense of comfort, especially when we are feeling kind of a bit under the weather. It is a great dish to eat with your family and with your friends, and it is best served during holidays and during special occasions with large gatherings.
In this recipe article, you are going to learn how to make the best and the creamiest chicken pastel! Continue to read on below to see what’s in store–with some tips and tricks and some trivia that you might take an interest in along the way.
What is Chicken Pastel?
The chicken pastel is a type of creamy stew which is sweet, and savory at the same time. It is a popular comfort food here in the Philippines which is made of chicken meat, some sausages and some chorizo, mushrooms, smothered in a rich and thick creamy sauce.
This is also one of the many dishes which the Filipinos have adapted and modified from the influence of the Spanish people during the Spanish colonization.
You can also try this dish on pork meat, see our Pork Pastel recipe also.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Chicken
This dish is quite versatile when it comes to the chicken cut to use. While chicken thigh will bring out the most flavor, you can also use the leaner chicken breasts.
Other Meats
You also have the option to add hotdogs or franks, or any sausage of your choice to add texture and color to the dish. You will also need mushrooms. Canned button mushrooms will do for this dish.
Cream/Milk
This recipe is made for you to have the creamiest type of chicken pastel, with the use of the all-purpose cream as the ingredient for that.
In case you don’t have that available with you, it can easily be replaced with other common ingredients such as evaporated milk or condensed milk.
Just do not that it would not result in something as creamy as when using an all-purpose cream, but the other way around it is to add cornstarch with the milk so it will still result in a thicker consistency.
Aside from these, you will also use regular pantry ingredients like onion, garlic, potato, carrot, bell pepper, lemon, soy sauce, salt, black pepper, and cooking oil. If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Cooking Pan (Kawali)- We will do a simple stewing to cook this dish and you will be needing a regular kawali or cooking pan to do this. You can also use any pan or skillet deep enough to contain the liquids involved in this recipe.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Cook Chicken Pastel
To start with the cooking of the creamy chicken pastel, let’s go over to what the procedure would be like and break down the whole process, to make things a little more streamlined and easier to visualize.
First part of the process, we need to prepare our ingredients, since it is quite a lot and it would take a lot of slicing.
And second, we are going to cook the prepared ingredients, which is a quick and easy process. We are just going to toss in the ingredients into one pan and mix all the flavors together to get that creamy goodness.
When cooking the chicken pastel, just make sure to check them from time to time if some of the ingredients are getting overcooked so you’re sure that all of the ingredients are tender, but not too soft.
Once you got all of that down, that’s pretty much it! Without even breaking too much sweat and without too much hassle, you’re going to be eating this delightful dish in no time.
Cooking Tips
- When preparing the ingredients for the chicken pastel, make sure that the ingredients are cut in equal sizes. This way, you will have an easier time cooking because they will all be cooked at the same time. Ingredients in varying sizes may result in different times of cooking and some may end up being still raw or undercooked.
- Don’t be afraid to replace some of the meat ingredients in this recipe such as the chorizo or the sausages with other types of meat. Some people might prefer to not have those kinds of meat, so you can replace it with others such as ham or even bacon. Certain types of hotdogs are also not always available depending on where you are, especially if you’re not in the Philippines.
How to Serve Chicken Pastel
Chicken Pastel is served warm as lunch or dinner, with freshly cooked white rice. Feel free to have this with a cool beverage like iced tea or soda.
How to Store and Reheat Chicken Pastel
In case you have leftovers, transfer to a clean food container with lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat you can use a microwave oven. Set at high for 3 minutes. You can also warm it in a pan, and reheat over a stovetop.
Other Filipino Chicken Recipes
- Pininyahang Manok (Filipino Pineapple Chicken) Recipe
- Chicken Adobo (Adobong Manok) Recipe
- Chicken Afritada (Afritadang Manok) Recipe
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Easy Chicken Pastel Recipe
Equipment
- Cooking Pot
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken thigh, cut into serving pieces
- 2 pcs Chorizo Bilbao, sliced
- 5 pcs sausage, or 3 pcs hotdog, sliced
- 1 pc onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pc large-sized potato, cut into cubes
- 1 pc large-sized carrot, cut into cubes
- 1 pc green bell pepper, cut into cubes
- 1 pc red bell pepper, cut into cubes
- ½ cup button mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ cup all-purpose cream, or evaporated milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 pc lemon (or lime), juiced
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, add-in the chicken and pour-in the soy sauce, and the lemon juice. Mix well and marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.
- In a cooking pot, pour-in and heat oil over medium heat.
- Add-in the chopped onions, and minced garlic. Saute until soft and aromatic.
- Add-in the Chorizo Bilbao. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Add-in the chicken thigh. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Pour-in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is tender.
- Add-in the hotdogs. Cook until the liquid is reduced to half.
- Add-in the potatoes, and the carrots. Pour-in the all-purpose cream. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add-in the button mushrooms, and bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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