Chicken pastil is a a popular breakfast dish in Mindanao, especially among the Filipino Muslims. This is a Maguindanaoan delicacy made from rice topped with cooked shredded chicken then wrapped it in banana leaves. It is also very easy to cook this recipe because all you have to do is cook the rice then cook the shredded chicken adobo style. But you don’t have to cook chicken adobo to produce the shredded chicken topping for this chicken pastil. You just need to boil the chicken breast then debone and shred the meat. Then sauté it with garlic, onion, turmeric, soy sauce, vinegar and a little sugar. Just like the ingredients when cooking chicken adobo. The cooked rice use in the recipe has a little twist of using turmeric powder just for coloring and enhancement of the flavor. Maybe you can use other coloring agent to the rice just to be creative.
NOTE ON THE INGREDIENTS:
TURMERIC
There are two kinds of turmeric used in this recipe, turmeric powder and turmeric root. But I think you can use turmeric root only since it is much easier to purchase it in wet market or supermarkets. And its cheaper than the turmeric powder.
SHREDDED CHICKEN
Chicken breast is the common chicken part in making shredded chicken. Maybe because it is the most meaty part of the chicken and the easiest to fillet. Using other parts like legs or thigh will yield less meat compared to the chicken breast. But its up to you what part you want to use.
How to Cook Chicken Pastil
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice
- 3 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. turmeric powder
- 2 whole boiled chicken breast deboned and flaked
- 1/4 cup minced garlic minced
- 1/2 cup minced onion chopped
- 1 Tbsp. minced turmeric root minced
- 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp. vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar or washed sugar
- 8 pcs hard boiled eggs
- sliced cucumber
- banana leaves for wrapping
Instructions
How to Cook Chicken Pastil
- Cook the the rice by washing it first in tap water until the water 2 to 3 times. Then combine the 2 cups of rice and 3 cups of water in a pot. Add turmeric powder. Simmer until the rice is cooked.
- Boil the chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. When tender, debone the chicken breast and flake the chicken meat.
- Heat 3 to 4 Tbsp. of cooking oil in a pan and sauté garlic, onion and minced turmeric. Saute until the garlic is a little brown. Then add the flaked chicken breast and stir.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Stir again until edges becomes fried and crispy.
- In a flat surface, lay a piece of cut banana leaf, just enough to wrap the rice and the chicken. Put a cup of turmeric rice of the center of the leaf and shape it in rectangular or oblong shape.
- Then put 2 to 3 tablespoons of flaked chicken on top. Garnish it with a half slice of hardboiled egg and a slice of cucumber on the side.
- Then wrap the rice and chicken in the banana leaf. Now it's ready to serve.