Food Trip 129 - Hinatukang Manok

I had a privilege to dine with my new found extended family in Leyte.  The atmosphere on the table that evening was warm and full of life.  Since I am no longer a stranger to some of them, I had a light moment with the rest of the family members and they are all great.

Anyway, I got intrigued with one of the menu that evening.  At first glance, the menu looks like a tinolang manok.  I know that the chicken was a native and usually in the province, native chicken is preferred over the hybrid one because of its succulent taste. 

The moment I tasted a humble serving of it, its taste intrigued me.  I never tasted something like this one my whole life.  It was creamy and my first impression of the food was astonishing.  It was hard to find the right words to fully describe the dish.  I just love it.

I asked the one who prepared the dish.  And I found out that the preparation was somewhat similar to tinolang manok which I am well aware of.  There are certain rituals to be followed in order to deliver its distinct taste. 

The blood of the chicken is poured into the grated coconut meat.  The grated coconut meat is then squeezed to extract the pure coconut milk with chicken blood.  Water is then added to the squeezed grated coconut meat in order to extract another set of coconut milk.  The second extract will be used to boil the chicken meat in order to soften it.  Once the meat of the chicken becomes tender, the pure extract of coconut milk with chicken blood is then added and stirred continuously until the chicken blood mix well with the dish.  Then, thin green papaya slices are added.  The moment the papaya slices are already cooked, some herbs (sangig) can be added in order to further enhance the taste of this dish.  And your hinatukang manok is now ready to serve.

Up to this time, the taste of hinatukang manok lingers in my taste bud that I can actually taste it.  This is true for great tasting foods like this one.  Even with the passing of time, its taste remains in my mouth even with just the mention of its name.  This is one of the best tasting dish in my food list.