PINAUPONG MANOK

Pinaupong Manok

This week I have decided to eat healthy and I was going to prepare a salad. But then, the government issued a warning regarding romaine lettuce in North America, so good timing, I get to postpone again! Wait, but isn't there that time of the year here when people are grateful for all the good things in their life ( president, climate change, the stocks going up  etc) ? Yes it is, at least for our friendly neighbors, cause in Canada we already got to celebrate with bacon and maple syrup ( before weed was legalized) last month. So there are two options for today's plans: fight an old lady at the store for that black friday discounted power backup generator or stay home and pretend you celebrate with your imaginary friends and family while eating your carefully prepared turkey. While both options are equally pleasing, I have settled on the last one , and under the careful video guidance of R I have started preparing the greatest thanksgiving meal ever, filipino style : Pinaupong Manok.

 Now, that will literally be translated as sitting chiken but then R gave me an altered recipe which instantly sounded more appealing , and you'll see why! Oh yes, and i's not a turkey, it's a chicken, but who cares about details. And the chicken is also not standing cause my pot is not fit for that.

Alright so let's get started:

-clean your big red onion and cut it in quads or more parts cause quarters are too big ( i didn't find smaller!)

-crush some garlic with the bottom of that thick glass that R doesn't like and apparently wants destroyed at all costs ( didn't work this time, the glass survived!)

-the recipe calls for lemongrass stuffing but ( of course) I didn't find any. Who cares though, there is an easy replacement: ginger and lemon! So clean some ginger and crush it! emotionally, with the bottom of the glass. Nope, glass survived again, but you know what they say, third time is a charm.

-well now, it's time to clean the chicken: use a luggage scale to weigh it ( in order to scientifically balance the ingredient quantities), open the bag and surprise!: the chicken is cut on one side so stuffing will be a bit problematic, not to mention having it sit as the recipe pretends!

Oh well, will do our best: pile up all the green and red onion on top of the crushed ginger garlic and lemon and try to fit all inside the chicken. No matter if the operation was a complete or partial failure, grab the chiken and throw it in the pot! Oh don't forget to massage it with salt and pepper first to spice up the story and marinate it in a mix of soy and oyster sauce for a while. But since time is precious (".. my precioussssss...")  we skip that step and just pour the mix on top of the potted chicken.

 All good and ready to go, but wait! the recipe calls for... Sprite! yes you read well, seems we need to put Sprite in the pot! Thank you R, I would have never thought to do that, now my eyes are opened to a whole new world of cooking possibilities. Also, eating healthy has a whole new meaning !

So, Sprite? Nooooo, we are in Canada!A real canadian will never use Sprite. We use Canada Dry ginger ale! Yes, the diet version of course, we need to eat healthy and less sugar. So pour exactly 500ml in the pot. From my calculations that's around 1 cup and a half, so basically just put how much it feels good, as I call it, add gingerale to taste ( save an ugly glass for later)

Well now cover the whole thing and wait impatiently for about 1 hour or more, depending on how tough the chicken was in her prime age.

...1 hour later... 

Open the lid et voila: in a Swedish sauna bath of steam and gingery flavors, the chicken is relaxed and tender, ready to serve, even if it looks more like a soup than what it was supposed to be! Oh well, at least it tastes good! ( it does, I promise!)

 Serve with rice, giner ale or family and friends and don't be shy, it was a great experience! Sarap! 

(Happy Thanksgiving and Birthday Erin!)