A light, nourishing chicken soup perfumed with ginger, garlic, and fish sauce, with green papaya wedges and chili leaves — the quintessential Filipino healing broth.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (about 1.2kg), cut into pieces
1 large green papaya, peeled and cut into wedges
3 tbsp fresh ginger, sliced into strips
1 large onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp fish sauce
1.5L water
1 cup chili leaves or moringa (malunggay) leaves
2 tbsp cooking oil
Salt and pepper
Instructions
1Heat oil in a large pot. Sauté ginger, garlic, and onion until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
2Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
3Pour in water and fish sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes.
4Add green papaya wedges and cook 10 more minutes until papaya is tender but not mushy.
5Add chili leaves or malunggay, cook 2 more minutes until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
6Serve hot in deep bowls with steamed rice on the side.
Did You Know?
Tinola is so deeply embedded in Filipino culture that it appears in the opening chapter of Jose Rizal's novel "Noli Me Tangere" (1887), used as a metaphor for social inequality.