Braised Chicken

Braised chicken is a Filipino chicken dish made from chicken pieces, soy sauce, ketchup, butter, calamansi and seasoned with black pepper and sugar. Braised chicken recipe is a simple but elegant dish filled with contrasting umami, savoury, sweet and salty flavours. The buttery sauce coating the tender cuts of chicken perfectly pairs a big bowl of hot steaming rice. An effortless dish which can be done in less than an hour, braised chicken is the ultimate dish to have during busy nights.

BRAISED CHICKEN RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo chicken
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 6 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 3 tablespoons calamansi juice
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter (unsalted)

Directions:

1. Wash and prepare the chicken. Cut them into serving pieces and then transfer to a container.
2. Add the chopped garlic, calamansi juice, ketchup, pepper, brown sugar and soy sauce. Mix and massage them well until fully coated. Let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hour.
3. After an hour, transfer the marinated chicken to a heated pan. Add the butter and then cover the pan. Let this cook for 20 to 25 minutes using high heat. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
4. After 20 minutes, lower the heat to medium setting. Continue cooking until the sauce is reduced.
5. When the oil starts to separate, then it’s ready! Turn the heat off.
6. Transfer the braised chicken to a serving plate. Enjoy this together with some hot steaming rice. Yum!

CHICKEN SUPERIORITY

Among the other birds, chicken is considered the king when it comes to culinary cooking. Compared to other poultry like ducks and turkey, chicken is the most economical and available in the markets and groceries. Chickens are purposely domesticated and cultivated for consumption.

Two of the most common types of chicken are the native chicken and the farm-grown chicken. The farm-grown chicken are the usual chicken you see at the groceries. They are commonly raised in closed environments and are either raised for the meat or for their eggs (or both).

Meanwhile, native chickens are free-roaming chickens. They are less common in the groceries as they are usually cooked in the rural areas. If you happen to visit a rural farm and see some chickens passing by, don’t worry as they know how to get home.

To know whether your chicken meat is native or non-native, you can check the color of the meat: the meat of the native chicken is darker. As the native chickens have an active lifestyle, their meat is much exercised, more tender and “malinamnam”.

WHAT IS BRAISING

Among the different cooking methods, braising is one of the easiest ones. Unlike deep frying which involves oil splattering and boiling which releases scum and impurities that you must remove at some point, braising is a simple cooking technique which involves quick frying and then stewing the meat until fully cooked.

In the braised chicken recipe featured in this blog, butter is added to the chicken which will fry the meat a little when melted. After this, the chicken will be simmered in its own marinade, making it absorb all the savoury flavors while being cooked and tendered.

What made braising unique is that you need a closed vessel. In a simple kitchen, you can use any cooker as long as it has a cover. During the whole duration of the cooking, the pot must be closed. This is also to contain the heat, making the meat tender and cook faster.

BRAISED CHICKEN

Making an exemplary dish during busy nights is quite a challenge. Since my hectic schedule started, I had fastfood for dinner for 3 straight days now. Realizing that it is unhealthy, we need to think of a dish which is effortless and quickly prepared. Seeing the chicken in the fridge, braised chicken is the first recipe which comes into my mind.

Braised chicken is a go-to dish especially for workaholic people like me. What I love about the braised chicken is that once you add the marinate the chicken (or any meat), you simply shoot them in the pan, and the only thing left to do is maybe to stir them 2 – 3 times during the whole cooking process. The resulting dish is a flavorful tender chicken oozing with butter sauce!

I usually braise the chicken a little longer, just as the sauce already sticks to the chicken. The defining ingredient for this dish would be the marinade, as this will give all the flavors and highlight the natural chicken flavor. The end product would be a reddish brown chicken with an almost similar taste with the chicken barbecue. This can also be an alternative recipe if you want to make chicken barbecue without the hassle of charcoal grilling!

I really love having this braised chicken together with some hot steaming rice during lunches and dinners. The dip is not really required but having a spicy toyomansi dip will truly make your eating experience 5-star!

If you have a limited time but want to have an elegant dish which is flavorful and not fried, you should definitely try this braised chicken recipe! Read and follow the easy steps below to try one. Happy cooking!

HOW TO COOK BRAISED CHICKEN

Cooking the braised chicken is super easy. If you have tried braised recipes in the past, then the next steps will be familiar to you.

Start off by marinating the chicken. The marinade is important to be much flavorful as this will also be the sauce base for later. For the braised chicken, the marinade will be made from the classic seasonings including calamansi juice, ketchup, pepper, brown sugar and soy sauce. You can add some chilies now if you want the spice to be up to the bone.

After marinating, add the chicken to a heated pan (including the marinade). No need to add oil since we will be adding butter. The last step to do it to wait until the braised chicken is ready. Remember to stir the chicken occasionally to prevent burning since we are using high heat.

Once the sauce thickens, the braised chicken is already ready. But if you are like who wants it “nagmamantika”, wait a little more until it renders oil.

Nagmamantikang braised chicken is super best when partnered with hot steaming rice. Make sure to prepare a lot! Yum!

COOKING TIPS

• If you like a healthier alternative to butter, you can try to use margarine since it is plant-based and has relatively lesser cholesterol levels.
• You can also try this recipe with other meats like pork, beef and even fish!
• Be wary of adding too much sugar in the marinade. The sugar might burn and can appear as burnt crust in the chicken.

Braised Chicken Recipe (TAGALOG)

Mga Sangkap:

• 1 kilo manok
• 1/3 tasa toyo
• 1/3 tasa ketchup
• 6 butil ng bawang (hiniwa)
• 3 kutsara bcalamansi juice
• 1 kutsarita paminta
• 2 kutsara asukal na pula
• 3 kutsara butter (unsalted)

Paano Lutuin:

1. Hugasan at ihanda ang manok. Hiwain ito sa serving pieces at ilipat sa lalagyan.
2. Ilagay ang bawang, calamansi juice, ketchup, paminta, asukal na pula at toyo. Haluin itong mabuti. Imarinate ang manok ng 1 oras.
3. Pagkatapos ng isang oras, ilipat ang marinated na manok sa kawali. Ilagayang butter at takpan ang kawali. Hayaan itong maluto ng 20 – 25 minuto gamit ang malakas na apoy. Haluin ito paminsan minsan para hindi masunog.
4. Pagkatapos ng 20 minuto, hinaan ang apoy. Lutuin lang ito hanggang lumapot ang sauce.
5. Kapag nagmamantika na, luto na ito! Patayin ang apoy.
6. Ilipat ang braised chicken sa serving plate. Enjoyin ito kasama ng mainit na kanin. Yum!