Tried another new dish today. There are some days when you run out of ideas on what to cook on a busy day at home. Usually, we think of the usual easy ones like adobo, nilaga, tinola, and sinigang. I can eat those everyday since I’ve never been a picky eater ever since. But now that I prepare food for the family, I want to give them variety of healthy food. Cooking is an adventure and an art. We need to explore and try.

Chicken sarciado (also called kinamatisang manok) is a filipino tomato-based dish. It looks similar to mechado and afritada in a way which are both tomato-based too. There are many variations of this dish but I chose to do the simplified one since I am fan of simple cooking.

As you go through my recipes, you will learn that my cooking thrives in simplicity, quickness (for me, time management is key everyday), and ease in finding the ingredients in your kitchen or a nearby grocery or market. But of course, I also have time for fancy ones too. They will come in little doses.

I’ve come to realize how much we save when we eat at home and how much overrated the restaurant foods are. Well for some specialized cuisine and foods that need to be cooked in a special manner, eating out may be worth it. In the home, you know how your meals are cooked and how much and what ingredients are actually in it. Everyday when I cook, some realizations dawn upon me and I will gladly share those to you.

So, here the recipe for Chicken Sarcidao. Try it!

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken (feel free to choose your desired part of the chicken and cut them into portion pieces)
• 2 small potatoes (or 1 medium)
• 2 small carrots (or 1 medium)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• cooking oil (for sautéing and frying)
• 4 cloves of garlic (cut into small pieces)
• 1/2 cup onion (sliced)
• 3-4 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 pc or 2 pieces (if small) eggs (beaten)
• 200g to 300g  sweet style tomato sauce

Procedure: 

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Fry the chicken then set aside.
2. In a separate pan, saute garlic + onion + fish sauce and tomato sauce for 3-4 minutes.
3. Then, add water, chicken, and pepper.
4. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
5. Add the eggs (beaten) and stir.
6. Serve and enjoy! 🙂

*** Best served with plain rice. You may also use leftover chicken for this recipe but no need to fry and put salt and pepper. 

“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.”- Thomas Keller

~Tina~