Pocherong Manok

Let’s speak about 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. Think about a lighter and barely candy model of mechado, however nonetheless hearty sufficient to make you attain for additional rice. It brings again recollections of household dinners, with Lola reminding you to complete your potatoes earlier than the saba bananas disappear.

By: Vanjo Merano
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Printed: 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 happen to take pleasure in tomato-based dishes and nutritious substances like me, this can be a nice recipe to strive.

After I first made this, I needed to convey out as a lot taste as doable whereas conserving the steps simple to observe. 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 tactic is simple, and I’m positive pochero might be your subsequent favourite hen dish after making an attempt this one out!

What’s 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 actually Filipino is the contact of sweetness from the saba bananas and the combination of greens that stretch the meal.

And you probably have ever confused Rooster Afritada with Pocherong Manok, you aren’t alone! They each characteristic hen cooked in a tomato-based sauce and are beloved Filipino consolation meals. However regardless of their similarities, these dishes every convey one thing completely different to the desk. Afritada is easier, 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. Briefly, Afritada is extra savory, whereas Pochero is extra layered.

Components and Objective

Rooster (2 lbs, minimize into serving items) – kinds the primary protein and base taste of the dish
Maggi Magic Rooster Dice (1 piece) – enhances the broth with umami depth
Saba bananas (3 items, sliced diagonally) – provides pure sweetness and creamy texture
Potatoes (2 items, cubed) – provides physique and helps thicken the broth barely
Canned chickpeas (14 oz) – provides protein and nutty texture
Lengthy inexperienced beans (15 items) – provides crunch and freshness
Cabbage (½ head, quartered) – contributes delicate taste and bulks up the stew
Bok choy (1 bunch) – provides leafy texture and refined bitterness
Yellow onion (1 piece, chopped) – builds the flavour base
Garlic (5 cloves, chopped) – deepens the aroma and savory notes
Tomatoes (2 items, wedged) – kinds the acidic spine of the tomato-based sauce
Chorizo de Bilbao (2 items, sliced) – infuses smoky, meaty taste
Tomato paste (3 tablespoons) – intensifies the tomato profile and thickens the broth
Water (2 cups) – creates the bottom liquid for simmering
Cooking oil (1 cup) – used for frying and sautéing numerous substances
Fish sauce – seasons with saltiness and umami
Floor black pepper – provides delicate warmth and depth

Methods to Cook dinner Pocherong Manok

Begin with Frying the Bananas and Potatoes – Warmth 1 cup of cooking oil in a wok or deep pan. As soon as scorching, fry 3 sliced saba bananas and a couple of massive cubed potatoes till they’re golden brown on the skin. This provides a barely crispy exterior whereas conserving them comfortable inside. If you’re out of saba bananas, ripe plantains can work as a good sub.
Sear the Rooster to Seal in Taste – Depart about 3 tablespoons of the used oil within the wok. Pan-fry 2 lbs of hen, minimize into serving parts, for round 2 minutes per facet. This step locks within the juices and offers a superb base for the broth. Set the hen apart after searing.
Construct the Fragrant 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 an additional minute to assist launch their pure juices and acidity.
Deliver within the Chorizo and Rooster – Toss in 2 sliced items of Chorizo de Bilbao. Allow them to sizzle for a minute so the oils can taste the bottom. Return the hen to the wok, combine nicely, and cook dinner every little thing collectively for two extra minutes to assist the substances mingle.
Simmer with Sauce and Taste Boosters – Stir in 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and pour in 2 cups of water. Deliver this to a boil to activate the tomato paste and start growing the broth. Add 1 piece of Maggi Magic Rooster Dice and stir till it dissolves utterly.
Add the Bulk Components – Combine within the canned chickpeas, beforehand fried potatoes, and bananas. Simmer for two minutes to let their flavors seep into the broth. These substances give the stew its signature texture—comfortable but agency sufficient to carry their form.
End with Greens and Seasoning – Add 15 lengthy inexperienced beans and ½ head of quartered cabbage. Cowl the wok and let it cook dinner for 3 minutes to melt them whereas nonetheless conserving 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. Get pleasure from your soul-warming Pocherong Manok!

Suggestions & Tips

Soak your potatoes in water for 10 minutes earlier than frying to stop sticking and get a greater crisp. Uncooked 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!
Wish 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 arrange. However if you would like dried ones, simply soak them in a single day, boil till tender, and portion into freezer luggage with only a splash of their cooking liquid. That method, they don’t dry out in storage. If you’re prepared to make use of them, simply thaw what you want on this recipe.
For even higher banana texture, freeze peeled saba first and thaw earlier than frying as a result of it caramelizes sooner. If you fry these bananas in your pocherong manok, a golden crust with a comfortable middle is what’s ready for you. Simply be sure that to allow them to thaw utterly and pat dry to keep away from oil splatter.

Finest Method to Get pleasure from Pocherong Manok

Pocherong manok is a type of meals greatest loved throughout Sunday lunches or household get-togethers when everybody’s craving one thing do-it-yourself and satisfying. You’ll be able to serve it piping scorching with a beneficiant heap of steamed white rice. Ensure that the hen ought to be fall-apart tender, and the greens barely agency however cooked by means of. 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 means of the richness. You convey pocherong manok out while you need one thing comforting and nutritious in a single plate!

How This Pocherong Manok Stands Out

I’ve cooked pochero in many various kinds, however this pocherong manok brings just a little little bit of every little thing into one pot. This model pulls taste from the chorizo as a substitute, making it smokier and extra layered. I additionally skipped the standard all-in-one sauté methodology and as a substitute fried the bananas and potatoes first, which provides a caramelized texture that you’ll not get in any other case. The usage of tomato paste, fairly than simply recent tomatoes, additionally intensifies the broth with out making it too watery.

What to Have With Pocherong Manok

After all, 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 facet, 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 facet. That works right here too, particularly in the event you’re mopping up the final bits of broth.

Steered Recipes

If you’re 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 – Utilizing pork hock, this one’s extra gelatinous and opulent. The broth turns wealthy and sticky, and the meat simply falls off the bone, supreme for individuals who love their pochero with additional umami punch.
Beef Pochero – This swaps our manok with beef, nevertheless it nonetheless has the identical nutritious contents, due to our substances. So bif you favor beef at the moment, you possibly can do this beefy stew.

Attempt Pocherong Manok, you may simply discover your subsequent rainy-day favourite or a weekend staple price repeating!

Did you make this? If you happen to snap a photograph, please make sure tag us on Instagram at @panlasangpinoy or hashtag #panlasangpinoy so we are able to see your creations!

Pocherong Manok is a Filipino hen stew simmered in a lightweight tomato-based broth with greens and saba bananas, making a comforting stability of savory and naturally candy flavors.

Prep: 25 minutes

Cook dinner: 35 minutes

Whole: 1 hour

Directions

Warmth the cooking oil in a wok. Fry the bananas and potatoes till it begins to brown. Put aside.

3 items saba bananas, 2 items potatoes
Depart round 3 tablespoons of oil within the wok. Pan-fry the hen for two minutes on both sides. Take away the hen and put aside.

2 lbs hen
Add 2 tablespoons extra of cooking oil. Sauté the onion for 1 minute.

1 yellow onion
Stir-in the garlic. Proceed sautéing till it begins to brown after which add the tomatoes. Sauté it for 1 minute.

5 cloves garlic, 2 items tomatoes
Add the chorizo. Stir after which add again the hen. Proceed to sauté this for two minutes.

2 items Chorizo de bilbao
Add the tomato paste and pour 2 cups of water into the wok. Let it boil.

3 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 cups water
Add Maggi Magic Rooster Dice. Stir,

1 Maggi Magic Rooster Dice
Add the chickpeas, potatoes, and bananas. Cook dinner for two minutes.

14 ounces chickpeas (garbanzos)
Put the lengthy inexperienced beans and cabbage. Cowl and proceed cooking for 3 minutes.

15 items lengthy inexperienced beans, ½ head cabbage
Season with fish sauce and floor black pepper.

Fish sauce and floor black pepper to style
Add the bok choy. Cowl the wok. Flip the warmth off and let the residual warmth cook dinner it for two minutes.

1 bunch bok choy
Switch to a serving bowl. Serve with rice.
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 delicate firmness retains the slices intact whereas frying and simmering. Skip bananas that really feel mushy or are largely black, since they have a tendency to crumble within the pot, and go away the inexperienced, under-ripe ones behind. They style starchy and received’t give the dish its light trace of sweetness.
Tomato paste, not sauce – A spoonful of paste provides deep, concentrated tomato taste and thickens the broth simply sufficient to make it cling to the hen and veggies. As a result of it provides richness with out additional liquid, the stew stays soupy as a substitute of watery. Its taste is much extra intense than common tomato sauce, which is precisely what a slow-simmered dish like Pocherong Manok wants.

Vitamin Data

Energy: 5378kcal (269%) Carbohydrates: 283g (94%) Protein: 254g (508%) Fats: 377g (580%) Saturated Fats: 58g (290%) Polyunsaturated Fats: 100g Monounsaturated Fats: 201g Trans Fats: 2g Ldl 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%)