Greetings!
When it comes to soup or stew a sour stew or soup is the most famous in our country. One of them is "Sinampalukan", which is a dish characterized by its sour soup. The sourness of the soup is achieved using tamarind. Tamarind is the most commonly used ingredient to make the soup sour but there are other ingredients that can be used aside from tamarind like vinegar, lime, mango, watermelon, tomatoes, and many more.
And when we say "Sinampalukan" the most famous is the "sinampalukang manok" (Chicken Tamarind Soup).
As early as I was able to remember, "sinampalukang manok" has been my favorite dish. And the most delicious "sinampalukang manok" is the one using native chicken. Nothing beats the tastiness of the native chicken, not even the most expensive commercial chicken that can be bought in the supermarket.
Also, when cooking "sinampalukang manok" we always use the young leaves and young flowers of tamarind instead of the tamarind itself. And most of the time we tend to cook "sinampalukang manok" all by itself to preserve the genuine taste of the chicken and its ingredients (vegetables are not commonly added to this dish but you can also add if you want).
If you are going to add vegetables you can definitely use water spinach or mustard. When you add mustard expect that the taste of the mustard will then be incorporated with the soup. Adding mustard to "sinampalukang manok" will make the dish to the next level. But if you only want to have a taste of the genuine "sinampalukang manok" then there's no need for vegetables.
But today, I am going to cook "sinampalukang manok" with water spinach and I will be using powdered tamarind instead of young tamarind leaves and young tamarind flower (because this is not the season for tamarind to produce young leaves and bear flowers).
By the way, the original "sinampalukang manok" only consists of the chicken meat, but today, I will be adding some twists to the dish by adding chicken feet to the dish.
So, without further ado, here's how I cook this all-time favorite dish.
- Chicken meat and chicken feet
- Green pepper (do not omit this ingredient as it gives an aroma to the dish)
- Water spinach (optional)
- Tamarind powder
- Ginger
- Onion
- Salt
- Garlic
- Cooking oil (for sauteeing)
Peel and slice the onion
Peel and slice the garlic
Peel and wash the ginger
Prepare and wash the water spinach, this is optional, you can cook "Sinampalukan" without water spinach (by the way, I harvested this water spinach on our vegetable garden)
Wash the green pepper
Prepare the tamarind powder
Prepare the chicken meat and the chicken feet (IMPORTANT: You need to peel off the outer skin of the chicken feet and cut all the nails on the fingers)
1. Sautee the onion, garlic, and ginger in a small amount of cooking oil
2. When the aroma of the onion, garlic, and ginger starts to evaporate, add the chicken meat and the chicken feet then sautee properly until the aroma of the chicken meat and the chicken comes out
3. After sauteing, add some water and salt, then let it boil (add a little salt as possible or according to your taste so that it won't get salty)
4. Add the green pepper
5. When the chicken meat and chicken feet are cooked add the water spinach (optional)
6. When the water spinach is cooked turn off the heat and it is done
I am a Computer Engineer, blogger, farmer, father, and husband. I love countryside living, nature, farming (rice/vegetables), and has two decades of experience as an I.T. professional
