Sixteenth dish:
Sinampalukang Native na Manok
(Native Chicken in Tamarind Broth)
(Native Chicken in Tamarind Broth)
Sinigang, as one of the numerous dishes which belongs to the country's National Dish. A hearty Filipino stew with the variation's of either fish, shrimps, beef, pork, and or chicken in sour broth. Depending on regional origins, the sournesss/tartness may vary according to the usage of its indigenous ingredients, such as fruits as the common souring ingredients for this primary flavor and these may came from the following: sampalok (tamarind), batuan (Garcinia binucao), kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi), pineapple, santol (cottonfruit), bayabas (guava) and calamansi (native lime fruit) to name a few; and the latter addition was watermelon.
According to Doreen Gamboa Fernandez a noted Filipino teacher, writer, cultural historian, and scholar who wrote extensively about Philippine theater and Filipino cuisine. Wrotes about an article which regards to the classic Filipino food staple, and some of which tackles about Sinigang. She states that the mellow richness of Chicken flavor were primarily "flavored only with young tamarind leaves and buds -- no fruit".
Hence, today we will be going to dive into this rich Native Chicken in tamarind broth (Sinampalukang Manok). In celebration to Mother's Day. My stepmom and step sister went to Food Trip Plaza again and ordered here at Pia's Chicken Hauz, the stall in which I find comfort in eating their Native Chicken BBQ, the best in its category which I had ever tasted. Furthermore we also ordered few dishes around this food hub from different stalls and these were: Lechon Liempo from JEMS, Blanched Oysters from TALABA STATION, Chopsuey from Q'S and Oreo Caramel Bingsu from CHILLED.
Let's see if they still did an amazing touch to this lovely Filipino Chicken stew.
At a price range of Ph230 good for 4-6 pax per order. I requested if we could still order the same dish for a lower price, since we cannot handle eating everything that much, so, both staffs asks each other if they could do that, since I've heard they only had remaining single order for Sinampalukang Manok, later they both agreed and told us they need to reduce the amount of chicken slices therein. Great! From Ph230 now down to Ph150 only, perfect for the three of us.
In a very crowded food destination like this, it was truly difficult to find where their diners sitting or waiting at. The staffs from Pia's lost their way in finding us as much as they could, because of the vast amount of gregarious customers laying around like mushrooms; with these having said, our broth got cold when it finally hit our table. Henceforth, we do understand their burden regarding their delay.
Anyways, let's dig in! After munching some of those few meals we ordered earlier. This Sinampalukang Manok came warm when it is supposed to be piping hot, nevertheless, we immediately scooped out some broth and took a spoonful of the soup then sip on it. Its taste was superb, like a lightning jolt signaling my senses that this was truly exceptional. The broth has finally reached its full potential and the reason for all of this was a pure balance in its natural goodness. The tartness was thoroughly mingled into the chickeny essence of the stock while giving it an exact amount of sourness. A touch of a mild tamarind essence was enough to create an astonishing beautiful harmonious partnership between the two flavor base (the native chicken and the tamarind fruit) helped ushers each other to a synergistic effect, both of which were interchangeable when it touches your tastebuds. Delicious?! The broth in itself was enough to give you an energy to jump start your day. The chicken was super tender like its falling off of the bone, but still packed with chickeny flavor plus some crunchy petchay, and fruity tartness from tomatoes was also indespensable thus adding some extra nutritional elements.
Overall, the dish was lovely. Albeit they used the fruit aside from flower buds and leaves of tamarind. Still, they made an exceptional balance without sacrificing the overall profile from chicken's richness. Truly delectable, both my companions slurped into its broth to the last drop -- specially my little sister.
Highly recommended!!!
RATINGS:
Price: ⭐⭐⭐👍👍
Overall Flavours: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall Doneness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Authenticity/creativity: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Service: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Satisfaction: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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