Pininyahang Manok

Pininyahang manok or Pineapple chicken is another simple dish made of marinated chicken, sautéed then mixed with milk and vegetables. I remember this dish being served in fiestas when I was kid. Traditionally the dish was prepared using coconut milk but people made variations of the recipe based on the availability of ingredients and ease of preparation.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken drumsticks (native chicken taste better)
• 1 1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained
• heavy syrup from the canned pineapple
• 1 1/2 cup evaporated milk (I recommend Carnation)
• 1 cup carrots, cut to cubes
• 2 stalks celery sliced or green and red bell pepper cut to squares.
• 1 medium sized onion, minced 
• 3 gloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp of fresh ginger juice or grated ginger
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tbsp butter
• chicken bouillon (optional: especially if you'll use chicken from the frozen section)

Steps:

• Marinate the chicken in heavy syrup from the canned pineapple for half an hour, drain and set aside.
• Sauté the garlic and onion in butter
• Add the chicken and fry until it turns light brown.
• Add soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce,pepper, heavy syrup and milk then bring to a boil
• Add the pineapple chunks and simmer for about 25 minutes or until chicken becomes tender and 50% of the liquid evaporates
• Add the carrots and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add the celery and simmer for 3 minutes
• Turn the heat off and transfer to a serving bowl
• Serve with steaming bowl of rice