I Cooked Chicken Tinola for the First Time in My Life

I considered this one of my greatest accomplishments in my life along with my Ph.D. Graduation in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1964 from the University of Illinois. Really? Let me explain.

I have been married for over 56 years, but the kitchen area is my wife's domain. Macrine, my spouse is an excellent cook. I never intrude in her domain, but just help her with the dishes since we got married in 1957. Her being an excellent cook is one of the many reasons why I married her. The saying that the way to man's heart is through his stomach really applies to our marriage.

However, about six months ago, Macrine was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease(PD). Thus, her ability to cook was really affected by her PD. So for the last past six months, I was in the kitchen with Macrine telling me what to do. Today, however, she was not feeling well. I was forced to cook without her supervision. Macrine wanted chicken soup. So with out any recipe book on hand here's what I did from memory.

I placed 4 chicken legs and 4 chicken wings in a pot containing 6 cups of water. I let it boil for about 7 minutes. I then added one chopped onion, a sprinkle of salt, pepper and ground ginger. Then I added bite size potatoes(2)and chayote(1), half a pound of fresh green beans cut into about 3 to 4 inches in length. I continue the boiling and added 6 pieces of carrots cut also to about 3 inches for color. I let the pot boil until the chicken was cooked. Then I added 6 bunches of washed baby bok choy and a smashed of fresh ginger( 2 inches) for flavoring. I continue the boiling until the potatoes were cooked. I tasted the broth and added a little more salt and pepper. As soon as the baby bok choy was cooked, I shut off the heat. I tasted the soup. It was perfect and the aroma of ginger made me hungry.

My wife complemented me on my cooking. This was an accomplishment, I never dream of. I feel very creative cooking without a cookbook and was surprise I enjoyed cooking.

I called my dish, Chicken Tinola. This is a very simple recipe and I finished cooking in less than an hour. My wife sometimes adds fish sauce(patis) for more of a salty and fishy taste. I hate patis, to me it stinks. My preference is to add hot Picante Salsa sauce. There are several variations of this dish in the different regions of the Philippines. In Marinduque, green papaya is used instead of chayote. Malonggay or green pepper leaves are also used in the recipe. Bon Apetit!