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Binakol
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Binakol is the signature soup of Aklan, on Panay island: free-range chicken stewed directly in fresh coconut water with lemongrass stalks, ginger and onion, without a drop of added water. In its most ceremonial version it cooks inside the green coconut itself or even a sealed segment of bamboo, set on the fire and cracked open at the table. The broth turns out sweet, clean and fragrant — proof of one-pot Visayan cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 free-range chicken, 1.2 kg, cut in pieces
- 1 l fresh coconut water (2 young coconuts)
- the young coconut meat, in strips
- 2 lemongrass stalks (tanglad), bruised and knotted
- 3 cm piece of ginger, julienned
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 tbsp patis (fish sauce) and whole peppercorns
300–400 kcal per typical serving.
per serving of a quarter chicken with broth; free-range chicken adds fat and the broth only a little coconut sugar (estimated from the typical recipe)
More history on Wikipedia: Binakol
How it is made
- Place the chicken in a pot with the coconut water, lemongrass, ginger, onion and peppercorns.
- Bring to a boil and skim; cover and simmer gently for 40 minutes.
- Add the coconut strips in the last 10 minutes so they do not fall apart.
- Adjust with patis; no water or salt is added at the start.
- Serve very hot in a bowl, or in the traditional way inside a freshly opened green coconut.