Menudo

Going home for the holidays and spending time in my childhood home is always a treat, and brings back so many great memories of preparing delicious holiday meals with my mother. This past holiday season, my mom had planned for a couple Filipino treats, one of which is a stew called “menudo.” This is one of those dishes that has many regional variations, but share the same base ingredients. The traditional dish calls for pork and pork liver, but we used chicken instead. Also, an ingredient called “annatto” is used for additional flavor and aroma (and touch of color), but it can be hard to find outside specialty stores, so we omitted it. The sweet onions and garlic were wonderfully aromatic as they cooked, and the stew was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, reminding me of many other childhood Filipino favorites.

 

Ingredients: (4-6 servings)

~1lb chicken breast, cut into ~1 inch cubes

~½ lb chicken liver, sliced

15oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

2 medium potatoes (~6 redskins), cubed (similar size as chicken chunks)

2 medium sweet onions, sliced thin

3 medium tomatoes (about Roma sized, or 1-2 slicer tomatoes), sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, sliced thin

½ - 1 cup water

2 cloves garlic, crushed

soy sauce

ground annatto or annatto juice (optional)

salt to taste


In a large pot, saute onions, garlic, and tomato. Add the chicken and let it cook for a few minutes, stirring for even heating. Season with soy sauce, cover and let it simmer for about 2 minutes.

 

Add water (enough for a stew consistency, not so much for a soup) and bell pepper. (If you happen to find annatto, add it after the bell pepper.) Cook for about 30 minutes, until the meat is almost tender.

 

Add the potatoes and garbanzo beans and cook another 10-20 minutes. When the potatoes can be easily pierced, but aren’t falling apart, add the liver and cook another 5-10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve on a bed of rice and enjoy!

 

~Karla

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Menudo - comfort food, Filipino style.http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2016/01/menudo.html
Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Friday, January 8, 2016