Chicken daily? Yes!
CANTONESE TREAT Chicken feet or ‘adidas’ as it is called in the Philippines, in dim sum dish
The most affordable meat these days is chicken, currently selling for less than half the price of pork or beef. This entices cooks and homemakers to serve chicken many times a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a situation that is not welcome by family members who are not too fond of poultry.
The solution to this is camouflaging chicken in dishes that traditionally use other meats.
CHICKEN TOCINO
Probably the easiest to do is boneless chicken cooked like pork tocino. The best shortcut we found is to use Mama Sita Tocino Mix, which produces tocino with the same color, cooking quality, and approximately the same taste as regular pork tocino.
Remember to drain the marinated chicken well before frying to produce a well-done crust.
SWEET CURED MEAT The tocino is meat doused in various combinations of spices and seasoning commonly with salt, vinegar, soy sauce, anise wine, pineapple, and sugar
DINUGUAN
Chicken Dinuguan is not uncommon in some parts of the country. The dish uses boneless chicken meat and pig’s blood. It is the perfect vehicle for chicken gizzards, which are really inexpensive and all-protein. Gizzards need only to be simmered in water and a little salt to tenderize before mixing into the stew.
SISIG
Gizzards again shine in this Filipino favorite. Simply boil in salted water, cool, and chop. Mix with chopped onions, minced garlic, and chili peppers and season with vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Serve very hot on a sizzling plate topped with a raw egg.
KAPAMPANGAN HOT PLATE Sisig, particularly the pork variant, is deemed as the tangible heritage dish of Angeles City
MEATLOAF AND GRAVY
Everybody loves meatloaf and nobody asks what kind of meat it uses. To make Chicken Meatloaf, substitute ground chicken for whatever meat is called for in a meatloaf recipe. Add a handful of chopped bacon for flavor. Proceed as instructed in the recipe. Serve with gravy or ketchup or both.
SHAWARMA
Bake, roast, or broil chicken that has been marinated in a mixture of spices and herbs. Slice into bite-sized pieces and stuff in flatbread with lettuce, tomato, and grilled onions spread with garlic mayonnaise or yogurt.
MEATBALLSAnd believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God. —Sherman Alexie
Mix ground chicken with bread crumbs, egg, herbs, salt, and pepper. Form into balls and coat with flour. Dip the balls in beaten egg and lastly in seasoned bread crumbs. Fry until golden brown. Serve with gravy or sweet and sour sauce. May also be cooked with pasta sauce and topped with grated cheese.
LONGANISA
For sweet longanisa, a fast shortcut is to mix ground chicken with Mama Sita Tocino Mix. Test by frying a teaspoon of the mixture and adjust seasoning as desired. For Vigan-style longanisa, season ground chicken with minced garlic, coarse black pepper, salt, and good vinegar.
PINOY SAUSAGE There are hundreds of viands of longanisa, most of which are made with varying rations of meat, fat, garlic, pepper, salt, vinegar, and sugar
BICOL EXPRESS
Cook sliced boneless chicken with garlic, ginger, coconut milk, shrimp bagoong, chili peppers until thick and creamy.
TORTANG TALONG
Peel grilled eggplants and spread out on beaten egg. Top with ground chicken stir-fried with garlic, and onions. Fry until both sides of the omelet are cooked.
TORTALONG Eggplant omelette can be stuffed with minced meat, seafood, and or vegetables
CHICKEN FEET DIMSUM
An expensive treat in restaurants, Chinese chicken feet dimsum is very easy to prepare at home. Start by coating chicken feet with soy sauce. Deep-fry until blistered. Transfer to stew pot and season with soy sauce, star anise, ginger, a little sugar, banana ketchup, chili sauce, and sesame oil. Pour in a bottle of beer. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat until tender.
BISTEK TAGALOG
Marinate sliced chicken in soy sauce and calamansi. Fry with sliced onions, then simmer with marinade.