2012's first post is going to be about tinola (ginger stew with vegetables), which, in my family, is served as a main course. It's normally cooked with chicken as its meat, but in this case, I used Quorn's Naked Chik'n Cutlets as my chicken substitute. In the box, there's 4 cutlets and I only used 2 of them since I was only cooking for my boyfriend and I. I've only started using this chicken substitute since October, but I find it does really well in soup/stew dishes since it soaks up the flavor of the dish.
Tinola is known to be a ginger stew but the ginger flavor isn't overpowering at all because the dish has green papaya and spinach as its vegetables. Come to think of it, tinola can be called the "Filipino chicken soup for the soul." You could eat it by itself, but I grew up eating it with hot white rice. Like with most Filipino dishes, the instructions on how to eat a dish usually ends with placing the food on top of hot white rice.
This dish was extra-exciting for me to make because I was able to use green papaya fresh out of my backyard. My mom has grown several papaya trees and lucky for me, they're just beginning to bear fruit. What was unlucky for me was that the papaya I wanted was much too high for me to easily grab. I think I spent a good 15 minutes swinging a pole my mom uses to grab fruit high up in a tree and praying the papaya doesn't land on me. I hope no one caught that on video because it wasn't exactly the most graceful sight. In the end, I was pretty pleased with the papaya I selected since it tasted so delicious in the dish.
I've noticed that whenever I replace the meat in a Filipino dish with a meat substitute, the dish automatically becomes a vegan meal. It's a great discovery for me because I am really trying my best to transition over into the vegan world. This is definitely something I need to work on this year and hopefully by 2013's first blog post, I'll be able to proudly say that I am vegan.
Serves 2
2 Quorn chik'n cutlets, sliced crosswise
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger strips
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon fish sauce substitute (2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon lime juice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2.5 cups water
1 green papaya, peeled and sliced
1 pound spinach
In a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté ginger, garlic, and onion for 1 minute. Add chik'n and sauté until chik'n colors slightly. Season with fish sauce substitute and salt. Add water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add papaya and cook until papaya is tender. (It took my papaya 35 minutes before I was able to pierce a fork through it, but it really depends on your papaya.) Add spinach, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes and serve hot.
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