WHAT IS CHICKEN AFRITADA?
A Filipino chicken stew with a tomato-based sauce is known as chicken afritada or afritadang manok. It is a straightforward dish that may be prepared on typical days. It tastes better when eaten with warm white rice and is ideal for lunch. Carrots and potatoes are used in the basic recipe. This recipe has been enhanced. Baked beans were added and it contributed to the “comfort food” appeal of the meal. This dish is easy and uncomplicated, therefore I recommend it to everyone.
A LITTLE TERMINOLOGY BACKGROUND:
The word or the dish name “Afritada” is actually derived from the Spanish word “fritada”, which means "fried,". It has been unquestionably one of those recipes that utilized the pan to its fullest potential. As implied by the dish's name, we begin by pan-frying the chicken. The most flavorful, colorful components and an orangey thick tomato based sauce are then added after this stage which is one of the most important parts of this recipe. This enhances the texture and taste of the food.
HOW AFRITADA CAME TO BE A FILIPINO DISH
Do you, however, know how this cuisine came to be? You might be surprised to learn how it penetrated the minds of our Filipino chefs. Several of the Filipino dishes that developed during the Spanish colonial period, may be recognizable to us. But the Spanish introduced the pan-frying culinary technique, which is what gave rise to Afritada in particular. Cooks in the Philippines later developed the concept of a meal in which the chef would begin by pan-frying chicken, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables. Before we allow it to simmer in a delicious mixture of garlic, bay leaves, and several beautifully complimentary flavors, this is what it will look like.
SIMILAR DISHES AND THE DISTINCTIONS
What distinguishes Afritada from Mechado and Kaldereta? Interesting huh? One key variation among the three is the main components we employ to generate their unique tastes. To get that orange hue, all employ tomato sauce, but only Kaldereta uses liver spread (and peanut butter in some regions). To make it taste more flavorful, we cook it with tomato sauce. And for a light sourness, mechado utilizes vinegar (or a little calamansi or lemon). And using beef or pork is more widely accepted. Among the three, only Afritada's original recipe calls for chicken as the meat component. In contrast, Kaldereta showcases beef as its meat alternative.
RECIPE PROPER
As aforementioned, the uniqueness of this recipe is the addition of baked beans at the end part of the process. I would admit, this idea was inspired by my mother-in-law. But, of course the basic version of the dish, I definitely learned from my Mom. I hope you’ll enjoy cooking with us in this session.
CHICKEN AFRITADA WITH BAKED BEANS
WRITTEN RECIPE:
Serves 4-6 persons
Cooking time: 45 min
Cuisine: Filipino
Course: Main Dish
LIST OF INGREDIENTS:
½ med sized White Onion, sliced thinly
4 cloves - Garlic
Bay Leaves (Laurel leaves)
½ kg Chicken drummets
½ kg Chicken breast (sliced in cubes)
3 med size Potatoes peeled, sliced in cubes
1 med size Carrots
2 med size – Green bell pepper (shredded)
Canola cooking oil
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
1 med can – Whole tomatoes
1 med can – Baked Beans
1 tbsp or as desired - Fish Sauce
Home made Anato Oil (pls see instructions on how to make)
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Make your own chicken stock by first, boiling the chicken drummets with 5 cups of water, salt and pepper and onions. (in this process I used pressure cooker just to save time, but this is optional; pressure cooking time is 10 min)
After boiling in pressure cooker for 10 min, leave it for a while and get a separate cooking pan;
Pan-fry the carrots; then the potato cubes;
Sautee the chicken breast;
Home made Anato Oil
Add the homemade Anato Oil for the main frying process; fry all the chicken in anato oil; (home-made anato oil is done by heating up olive oil in a pan and adding the dried anato seeds into a hot olive oil; let it boil for about 2 min, and pour all the oil including the seeds in a small container);
Three benefits of using anato oil;
a. You can fry the chicken;
b. It gives added flavor to the chicken; and
c. It gives vibrant color to the dish.
Add some salt and pepper while frying;
Fry the pre-boiled chicken drummets as well; this can be done together with the chicken breasts;
While carefully stiring-fry the chicken, add the chicken stock;
Close the lid and simmer for 3 minutes;
Add the canned whole tomatoes; press the tomatoes;
Let it simmer for 20 minutes; make sure it will not dry up;
Add the pre-fried carrots and potatoes;
After taste test, add some fish sauce as needed;
Add the green bell pepper on top’
Add baked beans;
After stirring gently, do the 1 minute simmer to blend flavor;
Turn off the stove and serve while it’s steaming hot;
Serve with plain rice.
SERVING SUGGESTION:
Kain tayo!!! Thanks for joining us! Let us know how your dish turned up using our recipe by leaving your comments.
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