Chicken Afritada

It's been cloudy these past four days. Folks in Manila are suffering from flooding due to heavy rains, and most of the classes have been suspended since Tuesday. Here in Davao, we experience scattered rainshowers, but no flooding.

Since it's a cloudy day, a great pick me-up would be a hearty chicken stew to warm both heart and tummy and please the eyes.

Chicken Afritada is a popular special occasion dish. It usually appears during Sunday meals, Fiesta celebrations and parties. It is always on menus for Filipino food and is a crowd pleaser.

Chicken Afritada

I remember growing up, my mom only cooked Chicken Afritada about four or five times in one year. She uses Dumalaga , any native chicken that's about to lay eggs, and so the stew would bear underdeveloped eggs that are basically just yolks, in various sizes. I didn't even mention how we looked forward to the rare times she served these.

Dumalaga=young lady chick, not quite a hen yet

When it was my turn to be mom, I decided to serve this dish at least once weekly. I thought, why designate such a delicious dish to just a few, rare appearances, when it is so easy to make and so freakin' delicious?

The kids agree, and they love this for lunch, dinner and for packed lunches. Matter of fact, when guests come over, they know I'll be serving these. The dish looks like you fussed, with the taste and the common knowledge that this is special occasion dish. But then, that will now be your secret, like it is mine.

So get ready for a most delicious fiesta fare right in your own kitchen, and wow guests for picnics with this authentic Filipino dish.

The sauce is to die for, so make sure to include at least 3 cups.

If you wish, you can use one whole native chicken, cleaned, cut up into serving pieces and pressure cooked for about 35 minutes. Cool until the pressure cooker can be opened, before starting on the dish. This means you might need another hour's head start to get the dish done on time.

If pressed for time, however, use a spring chicken, or dressed chicken breasts. For this recipe, I used one and a half chicken breasts. Use chicken fillets when making these for the elderly and very young children.

Lets' cook!

INGREDIENTS:

Afritada ingredients

1 pound or 500 g chicken breasts, cut into serving pieces
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, sliced
1 red and 1 bell pepper, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup pineapple chunks in syrup
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1-2 tsp all purpose seasoning
2-3 T. tomato paste or 1 150 ml pouch tomato sauce

PROCEDURE:

1. Saute garlic, onions and tomatoes, add the chicken pieces and sprinkle salt on the meat. Toss to make sure the sauteed vegetables get their flavor into the meats. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes in medium heat.

2. The meat shall be cooking in its own juices. Add 2-3 cups water or the stock from which they were previously cooked in ( if using boiled, native chicken). Cover and cook further about 15-20 minutes.

3. Season with pepper and all purpose seasoning. Add the potatoes, carrots, pineapple, pineapple syrup and tomato paste. Add more to achieve the right red-orange color. Cook until vegetables are just tender.

4. Add the green peas and bell peppers. Taste your dish, the pineapple syrup should have added a hint of sweetness to the sauce. Adjust the seasonings, adding more salt or a little white sugar if the tomato paste is too sour. The dish should sport a sweet-salty-umami taste.

5. Add the breadcrumbs, boil until sauce just thickens, remove from fire and serve hot with steamed rice.

Easy Chicken Afritada

Enjoy!