Balan's Tinola

There's sumpthin about the cooking of tinola with the Balan family. I remember when I was a little knottydon, dad cooked the best tinola. Normally on Sunday, we have like 2 to 3 dishes. It's like a feast!

Years passed and kuya surpassed that with his own version. There's one gimmick in Zambales when the tinola that he cooked got stolen. Yep. Ain't kidding. It was sooooo freakin good that the other people in the resort took it. Curse 'em!

Whenever I miss dad or kuya's cooking, I practice cooking. So far, my favorites are adobo, giniling, ampalaya con carne, and of course, tinola. Sometimes Waltermart doesn't have sili leaves so that's a big bummer. I love the aroma and flavor of sili leaves in my tinola. I think the key in this dish is to saute the chicken on ginger. Lotsa ginger. I even crushed them to get its flavor. Mmmmmm...