Chicken Tocino

Chicken tocino is a Filipino Chicken dish and is very popular with its distinct sweetness brought about by the pineapple and brown sugar combination made extra savoury with the blend of oyster sauce, ketchup and liquid seasoning. While the tocino can be made from chicken or pork, this chicken tocino recipe offers the less fatty option since it uses chicken breast. When served with rice, egg and tomatoes, the tocino is the ultimate breakfast package!

CHICKEN TOCINO RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo chicken breast
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon liquid seasoning
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• Black pepper to taste
  1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, pineapple juice, ketchup, oyster sauce, liquid seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined. Set aside.
2. Prepare the chicken breast and slice into smaller pieces. Put them in a bowl and then pour the tocino mixture. Mix well until each piece is fully coated. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and marinate for at least 8 hours or better if overnight.
3. Heat a pan (no oil) and then arrange the marinated chicken. Pour some of the marinade as you cook. Flip occasionally to cook them evenly and to prevent burning. Once the marinade is fully absorbed by the chicken, pour a little oil to fry them. Cook until the chicken is tender. Once cooked, transfer to a strainer or paper towel to drain excess oil. Do these steps with the rest of the chicken tocino.
4. Transfer the homemade chicken tocino to a serving plate and serve with fried eggs, rice and fresh tomatoes or vinegar dip. Yum!

What is Tocino

Tocino is one among the dishes which we adapted from the Spanish cuisine during their colonization. The word tocino is the Spanish word for “bacon”. Bacon is a type of cured pork fat. This can also be rooted from the Mexican term “tocineta” which refers to a layer of fat under the pig’s skin.

Modern versions of tocino uses lean cuts of meat, with just a small portion of fat. There are a lot of competing brands when it comes to tocino which also varies the type of meat used (chicken, pork or young pork). Meanwhile, the Kapampangan’s have the claim on the best and original tocino in the country.

As tocino is a type of marinated meat which is cooked, this  dish can be easily prepared at home just with the right type of ingredients.

Chicken Tocino

Face to face classes are back and we know that the kids like their lunch baons extra special. As a kid, pork tocino is one of my top choices when it comes to lunchboxes. I love that it remains sweet even after being cooked for a few hours already. I still remember waking up to the smell of tocino at 5 in the morning. While this ulam is incredibly sweet, its sweetness is not nakakaumay. I usually have tocino for breakfast and pack some for my lunch baon. I usually pair this with either tomatoes or atcharang papaya together with rice and egg. I usually cannot finish a whole cup of rice when I was young, but I instantly become a matakaw when tocino is served at the table.

Nowadays, there are a lot of processed meats which can be quickly fried in the morning and serve as pang baon. One among this is bacon. My niece started requesting bacon as her breakfast and baon last week, but she still requests for me to cook bacon for her for the upcoming week. While bacon is easy to prepare, this dish is made from fatty portions of pork, alongside too much sodium/salt, which may be dangerous if given for a whole week.

Just to satisfy her bacon cravings and still boost her appetite, I decided to make some homemade tocino which is sweet and savoury, just like her favorite bacon. I made sure to be gentle on the ingredients to still make this ulam healthy. And instead of pork, let’s do it with chicken! Also, you can make a large batch of the raw chicken tocino and turn it into a business. Truly bentable!

If you want to know how to make chicken tocino at home, read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!

How to Make Chicken Tocino

After reading this whole article, I’m sure you’ll be surprised on how quick and easy the steps are in making chicken tocino at home.

Tocino can be made using different types of meat. The usual ones include pork (and young pork) and chicken. For those who want to have a juicy tocino, the pork variety is the recommended one and for those who are health conscious like us, the chicken variety would be the better option since the chicken breast is purely lean meat. Alternatively, you can use other cuts of chicken as long as it is boneless. Simply cut the chicken into thinner and smaller bite size pieces.

The most important part of the chicken tocino is the marinade. This marinade is almost similar to a barbecue sauce, but is extra sweet than salty. Gather the seasonings listed below and combine them in a bowl. If you are curious on why the tocino is red / pink in color, this is because of the ketchup.

Take note to use brown sugar instead of white! The brown sugar has a deep caramel flavor which will surely make your tocino yummy and delicious! While we want the marinade to be super sweet, remember not to add too much sugar as they can burn when cooked. Marinate the chicken overnight to let the flavors be absorbed well by each piece of chicken.

The last thing to do is to cook the marinated chicken. Instead of plainly frying them, cook the chicken with the marinade. You may brush them with the marinade or simply baste them. Be careful not to use too much high heat as the sugar from the marinade may burn. You may opt to serve them after they absorb the marinade or fry them a little. I usually add a little oil just to make some of the crust crispy.

Go grab your fried rice, eggs, tomatoes and your vinegar dip! While we usually enjoy the tocino during breakfast, feel free to enjoy it anytime of the day!

COOKING TIPS:

• You may use part sugar and part honey in making the marinade sweet for a unique flavor.