Tinolang Manok (Chicken Tinola)
You could call tinola a chicken soup, but that is just a literal description for a dish that, in the Philippines, is more like a form of medicine. The writer Jill Damatac remembers her lola (grandmother) putting a whole chicken in the pot; in her own version, she bronzes thighs and drumsticks then submerges them in chicken stock and sets to a simmer. The broth’s depth comes from ginger, peppery malunggay (moringa) leaves and patis (fish sauce), standing in for salt. Chayote, kin to squash but as bracing as an apple, yields a clean, juicy bite. Be patient: The soup’s subtle flavor “does not bloom, soft and gentle on the tongue, until the second mouthful,” Ms. Damatac writes in her memoir, “Dirty Kitchen” (Atria, 2025). As a luxurious topping, she buys extra chicken skin from the butcher, crisps it and adds it to the soup at the last moment, for a satisfying shatter. Ligaya Mishan
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