Let’s discuss Pocherong Manok, consolation meals at its most interesting. It has a wealthy tomato-based broth, tender hen, and a mixture of greens that absorb all that savory goodness. Imagine a lighter and barely candy model of mechado, however nonetheless hearty sufficient to make you attain for further rice. It brings again recollections of household dinners, with Lola reminding you to complete your potatoes earlier than the saba bananas disappear.
Published: 5/31/25
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Pocherong Manok is a hearty stew made with hen, greens, and a tomato-based broth. It’s completely filling and warming! If you take pleasure in tomato-based dishes and nutritious components like me, this can be a nice recipe to strive.
When I first made this, I needed to convey out as a lot taste as doable whereas preserving the steps straightforward to comply with. So, I ready this Pocherong Manok recipe by frying the bananas and potatoes first after which layered the flavors utilizing Chorizo de Bilbao (dry sausage originated within the Philippines) and tomato paste earlier than letting it simmer in a broth. The methodology is easy, and I’m certain pochero might be your subsequent favourite hen dish after making an attempt this one out!
What is Pocherong Manok?
The phrase “pochero” (or “puchero” in Spanish) initially referred to an earthenware pot used for cooking. Over time, it began to explain the dish itself, which is a hearty stew historically made in such a pot. What makes it really Filipino is the contact of sweetness from the saba bananas and the combo of greens that stretch the meal.
And if in case you have ever confused Chicken Afritada with Pocherong Manok, you aren’t alone! They each function hen cooked in a tomato-based sauce and are beloved Filipino consolation meals. But regardless of their similarities, these dishes every convey one thing completely different to the desk. Afritada is less complicated, utilizing hen, tomato sauce, potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers. In distinction, Pocherong Manok is heartier and extra festive, made with hen and a wider mixture of greens. In quick, Afritada is extra savory, whereas Pochero is extra layered.
Ingredients and Purpose
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Chicken (2 lbs, lower into serving items) – kinds the primary protein and base taste of the dish
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Maggi Magic Chicken Cube (1 piece) – enhances the broth with umami depth
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Saba bananas (3 items, sliced diagonally) – provides pure sweetness and creamy texture
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Potatoes (2 items, cubed) – offers physique and helps thicken the broth barely
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Canned chickpeas (14 oz) – provides protein and nutty texture
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Long inexperienced beans (15 items) – offers crunch and freshness
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Cabbage (½ head, quartered) – contributes gentle taste and bulks up the stew
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Bok choy (1 bunch) – provides leafy texture and delicate bitterness
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Yellow onion (1 piece, chopped) – builds the flavour base
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Garlic (5 cloves, chopped) – deepens the aroma and savory notes
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Tomatoes (2 items, wedged) – kinds the acidic spine of the tomato-based sauce
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Chorizo de Bilbao (2 items, sliced) – infuses smoky, meaty taste
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Tomato paste (3 tablespoons) – intensifies the tomato profile and thickens the broth
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Water (2 cups) – creates the bottom liquid for simmering
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Cooking oil (1 cup) – used for frying and sautéing numerous components
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Fish sauce – seasons with saltiness and umami
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Ground black pepper – provides gentle warmth and depth
How to Cook Pocherong Manok
- Start with Frying the Bananas and Potatoes – Heat 1 cup of cooking oil in a wok or deep pan. Once scorching, fry 3 sliced saba bananas and a couple of giant cubed potatoes till they’re golden brown on the surface. This provides a barely crispy exterior whereas preserving them smooth inside. If you might be out of saba bananas, ripe plantains can work as an honest sub.
- Sear the Chicken to Seal in Flavor – Leave about 3 tablespoons of the used oil within the wok. Pan-fry 2 lbs of hen, lower into serving parts, for round 2 minutes per aspect. This step locks within the juices and offers base for the broth. Set the hen apart after searing.
- Build the Aromatic Base – Add 2 extra tablespoons of oil if wanted. Sauté 1 chopped yellow onion for a minute till translucent. Stir in 5 chopped garlic cloves and cook dinner till they begin to brown barely for that deeper taste. Add 2 wedged tomatoes and cook dinner for one more minute to assist launch their pure juices and acidity.
- Bring within the Chorizo and Chicken – Toss in 2 sliced items of Chorizo de Bilbao. Let them sizzle for a minute so the oils can taste the bottom. Return the hen to the wok, combine properly, and cook dinner the whole lot collectively for two extra minutes to assist the components mingle.
- Simmer with Sauce and Flavor Boosters – Stir in 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and pour in 2 cups of water. Bring this to a boil to activate the tomato paste and start growing the broth. Add 1 piece of Maggi Magic Chicken Cube and stir till it dissolves utterly.
- Add the Bulk Ingredients – Mix within the canned chickpeas, beforehand fried potatoes, and bananas. Simmer for two minutes to let their flavors seep into the broth. These components give the stew its signature texture—smooth but agency sufficient to carry their form.
- Finish with Greens and Seasoning – Add 15 lengthy inexperienced beans and ½ head of quartered cabbage. Cover the wok and let it cook dinner for 3 minutes to melt them whereas nonetheless preserving some crunch. Season with fish sauce and floor black pepper to style. Lastly, add 1 bunch of bok choy, flip off the warmth, and let the residual warmth steam it for two extra minutes. This methodology retains the bok choy crisp and flavorful. Enjoy your soul-warming Pocherong Manok!
Tips & Tricks
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Soak your potatoes in water for 10 minutes earlier than frying to stop sticking and get a greater crisp. Raw potatoes are loaded with extra floor starch, which might trigger them to clump collectively within the pan and cook dinner erratically. A fast 10-minute soak in chilly water helps rinse that off. After that, dry the potatoes totally with a clear towel—moisture is the enemy of crispiness. You need one thing golden in your pocherong manok broth, and it’s the potatoes shining!
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Want to skip canned chickpeas? Boil dried ones forward of time and maintain them within the freezer. I used canned chickpeas as a result of they’re a lot simpler to organize. But in order for you dried ones, simply soak them in a single day, boil till tender, and portion into freezer baggage with only a splash of their cooking liquid. That means, they don’t dry out in storage. When you’re prepared to make use of them, simply thaw what you want on this recipe.
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For even higher banana texture, freeze peeled saba first and thaw earlier than frying as a result of it caramelizes quicker. When you fry these bananas to your pocherong manok, a golden crust with a smooth middle is what’s ready for you. Just be certain to allow them to thaw utterly and pat dry to keep away from oil splatter.
Best Way to Enjoy Pocherong Manok
Pocherong manok is a type of meals finest loved throughout Sunday lunches or household get-togethers when everybody’s craving one thing home made and satisfying. You can serve it piping scorching with a beneficiant heap of steamed white rice. Make certain that the hen must be fall-apart tender, and the greens barely agency however cooked by. Pairing it with sawsawan (dipping sauce) like patis and chili can heighten the flavors much more, supplying you with that salty, spicy hit that cuts by the richness. You convey pocherong manok out once you need one thing comforting and nutritious in a single plate!
How This Pocherong Manok Stands Out
I’ve cooked pochero in many alternative kinds, however this pocherong manok brings a bit little bit of the whole lot into one pot. This model pulls taste from the chorizo as an alternative, making it smokier and extra layered. I additionally skipped the same old all-in-one sauté methodology and as an alternative fried the bananas and potatoes first, which provides a caramelized texture that you’ll not get in any other case. The use of tomato paste, reasonably than simply recent tomatoes, additionally intensifies the broth with out making it too watery.
What to Have With Pocherong Manok
Of course, pocherong manok isn’t lonely on the desk. It craves the corporate of heat plain rice. The savory and barely candy broth blends into the rice. On the aspect, atchara (pickled papaya) or cucumber salad works as a palate cleanser, particularly with the richness from the chorizo and tomato paste.
Some Filipinos love pairing it with something that’s fried, fish, for instance, so as to add crunch. In Spain, nonetheless, the place the unique “pochero” idea got here from, it’s frequent to have a easy piece of crusty bread on the aspect. That works right here too, particularly for those who’re mopping up the final bits of broth.
Suggested Recipes
If you might be into nutritious dishes like pocherong manok, you may need to discover these subsequent:
- Pochero with Pork and Beans – This model makes use of canned pork and beans, making it faster and a bit sweeter. It leans extra into the Filipino pantry-style dish.
- Pata Pochero – Using pork hock, this one’s extra gelatinous and opulent. The broth turns wealthy and sticky, and the meat simply falls off the bone, superb for individuals who love their pochero with further umami punch.
- Beef Pochero – This swaps our manok with beef, but it surely nonetheless has the identical nutritious contents, due to our components. So bif you favor beef immediately, you’ll be able to do this beefy stew.
Try Pocherong Manok, you may simply discover your subsequent rainy-day favourite or a weekend staple price repeating!
Did you make this? If you snap a photograph, please make sure tag us on Instagram at @panlasangpinoy or hashtag #panlasangpinoy so we will see your creations!
Pocherong Manok
Pocherong Manok is a Filipino hen stew simmered in a lightweight tomato-based broth with greens and saba bananas, making a comforting steadiness of savory and naturally candy flavors.
Instructions
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Heat the cooking oil in a wok. Fry the bananas and potatoes till it begins to brown. Set apart.
3 items saba bananas, 2 items potatoes
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Leave round 3 tablespoons of oil within the wok. Pan-fry the hen for two minutes on all sides. Remove the hen and put aside.
2 lbs hen
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Add 2 tablespoons extra of cooking oil. Sauté the onion for 1 minute.
1 yellow onion
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Stir-in the garlic. Continue sautéing till it begins to brown after which add the tomatoes. Sauté it for 1 minute.
5 cloves garlic, 2 items tomatoes
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Add the chorizo. Stir after which add again the hen. Continue to sauté this for two minutes.
2 items Chorizo de bilbao
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Add the tomato paste and pour 2 cups of water into the wok. Let it boil.
3 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 cups water
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Add Maggi Magic Chicken Cube. Stir,
1 Maggi Magic Chicken Cube
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Add the chickpeas, potatoes, and bananas. Cook for two minutes.
14 ounces chickpeas (garbanzos)
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Put the lengthy inexperienced beans and cabbage. Cover and proceed cooking for 3 minutes.
15 items lengthy inexperienced beans, ½ head cabbage
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Season with fish sauce and floor black pepper.
Fish sauce and floor black pepper to style
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Add the bok choy. Cover the wok. Turn the warmth off and let the residual warmth cook dinner it for two minutes.
1 bunch bok choy
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Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with rice.
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Share and revel in!
Notes
- Saba bananas – Go for fruit that’s primarily yellow with a scatter of black freckles as a result of these are the candy spots the place the flesh is flavorful but nonetheless agency. That gentle firmness retains the slices intact whereas frying and simmering. Skip bananas that really feel mushy or are largely black, since they have an inclination to crumble within the pot, and depart the inexperienced, under-ripe ones behind. They style starchy and gained’t give the dish its mild trace of sweetness.
- Tomato paste, not sauce – A spoonful of paste offers deep, concentrated tomato taste and thickens the broth simply sufficient to make it cling to the hen and veggies. Because it provides richness with out further liquid, the stew stays soupy as an alternative of watery. Its taste is way extra intense than common tomato sauce, which is precisely what a slow-simmered dish like Pocherong Manok wants.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 5378kcal (269%) Carbohydrates: 283g (94%) Protein: 254g (508%) Fat: 377g (580%) Saturated Fat: 58g (290%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 100g Monounsaturated Fat: 201g Trans Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 680mg (227%) Sodium: 1790mg (75%) Potassium: 9646mg (276%) Fiber: 95g (380%) Sugar: 103g (114%) Vitamin A: 50457IU (1009%) Vitamin C: 771mg (935%) Calcium: 1997mg (200%) Iron: 46mg (256%)
