I had a weird request for my mom a couple of weeks ago for my weekly care package: “Will ya throw a couple of cans of coconut milk in there?” I really wanted to recreate the fragrant, ginger-infused chicken and coconut soup my grandma used to make for me as a kid, ginataang (pronounced “ginut-ung”) manok. She usually makes a veggie version of this, with thick wedges of butternut squash, eggplants and Chinese long green beans, but I didn’t have that luxury of Asian vegetables here at Syracuse, so I used chicken instead.
It’s funny, because when it came time to make the soup, I knew exactly what to do — I didn’t have to check a recipe or look up how much patis I had to put in. I made it from memory, and I knew exactly what the lasa should taste like. It’s not like a Thai coconut curry — the vinegar and the whole green chili in ginataang gives it a kick.
Recipe:
1/2 lb chicken tenderloins
1 1/2 cans coconut milk
1 can chicken broth
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c patis (fish sauce)
1 head of mustard leaves, roughly chopped
1 onion, quartered
2 tbs ginger, sliced into thick pieces
salt
black pepper
15 grape tomatoes
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 whole green chili
Boil coconut milk, chili, broth, onions, ginger, black peppercorns, bay leaf and chicken together. Once it reaches a boil, bring to a simmer, add tomatoes, patis and vinegar, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add in mustard leaves and simmer for another 5 minutes until the leaves cook through. Season to taste and serve with freshly steamed rice.
Photo courtesy of cookalicious.wordpress.com.
