Chicken Inasal

                   

Thanks to the entrepreneurial savvy of the Ilonggos, the lowly Chicken Inasal(grilled chicken on a bamboo skewer) has crossed borders from the sugar frontier to the Philippine metropolis. Like the  legendary La paz Batchoy, it has inched it's way to carve a niche in the national palate. You can see Manokans(grilled chicken eateries) sprouting even in the air conditioned chi-chi malls; most of whom claim to be the orig.

Let's talk about the orig. There is only one yardstick as far as I am concerned-- the chicken itself. Use a different chicken and you get a different  flavor. It should be native chicken.

An authentic Bacolod / Ilonggo Inasal(chicken in bamboo skewers) should be a Darag. Darags are native Visayan free range, drug  and growth hormone-free chicken that are skinnier and definitely tougher to the mandible than the plump commercial variety. If a barbecued Darag  is displayed  with the commercial ones, you wouldn't even want to buy it. Give it a quick look and you think it's more bone than meat. It costs more too. But then if you value superior flavor over quantity, you would know what to grab. Man, I tell you, the flavor is worth the heavy chew.

I have a suki (a favorite vendor) back home who is a master in grilling the Darag. He is more of the ambulant type who would set up shop in changing  locations on different days. You will find him on weekends setting up outside the cockpit. No, he is not grilling the fallen winged gladiators. What he has is a trisikad( a BMX bike with a side car) which carries his grilling equipment-- a rickety table, a small charcoal grill, a trimmed banana trunk where he sticks the bamboo skewers holding the cut chickens and a basket where he stores the chickens and small implements.

I patronized him because I was drawn to his natural grasp of the concept of using fresh ingredients in his small grilling business. He would buy the native chickens in the morning and would start killing and dressing them only a few hours before he starts grilling so the chickens doesn't have to chill in the fridge. Native chicken looses flavor when chilled overnight.

For the marinade, he would  use native cane, palm or tuba vinegar and coarse salt.That's it. While the chicken is grilling he would brush it  with achuete oil. No other spices or secret mixes. In the end, what you get is  real flavorful of the bird meat.

I made my own version of Chicken  Inasal days ago. I knew it was a far cry from that of my suki. For one, I only have commercial grade chicken to grill. Second, I didn't have real achuete seed for the oil. I used Mama Sita's powdered version. For the marinade, I made do with apple cider vinegar and key limes. I added garlic,black pepper corns and brown sugar to  the mix to bosst the flavors. Lastly,I didn't have  bamboo skewers. I "grilled" the bird inside the oven instead. I didn't get that  important smoky charcoal aroma. Well, it wasn't that bad if only for the memory of eating a native one. I made some garlic rice drizzled with the extra achuete oil to go with it. If there was a revelation, the inasal tasted well with grape tomatoes eaten in the raw.

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

[iska]

I’ve tried this chicken inasal last time it does tastes different from lechon manok. I love La Paz batchoy myself having eaten a bowl of authentic batchoy in Iloilo about 15 years ago! :)

[xtine]

I think the last time I have Chicken Inasal when I was in Butuan City and that was 1996. I was fascinated and delightful of the taste of the chicken and the most interesting part is that they wouldn’t allow you to use fork but barely with your hand and they put a little basin or sink on the middle of the dinning area for washing hands before you start to dine. It brings back the memories and told myself that once I get back in Manila – I would have to make my own Chicken Inasal now that I moved over here in the U.S. I’m glad you share this post and able to remind myself to make this very soon or this coming summer but I’m wondering where your recipe is????

Tin

[Kai]

And how do you make chicken inasal tender when it's native chicken? I use native chicken for tinola and it takes hours to tenderize, even in the pressure cooker.

[angelo]

iska- time to visit iloilo again.i'll be yor guide. tell me when i can fly home. hehe

tin- the only best way to eat inasal is with your hands.because its so good you have to make "siksik" the bones after.

kai-are you sure you're not using manok pangsabong for your tinola? hehe. just kidding.

what i know is that they choose
spring chicken for the inasal.linghod nga mungga(young hen) is what they call it. yet it is still a bit tough and chewy compared to
the commercial one.but as i said its worth the effort because of the flavor.
by the way, when in ilo2, drop by Tatoy's and try their native chicken lechon manok.
here is a link about darag chicken.
http://www.thenewstoday.info/2006/03/29/scientists.urge.farmers.to.bank.on.darag.native.chickens.potentials.html

[Kai]

Oh yeah, I've been to Iloilo several times and the first thing my companions and I do is to go to Tatoys for lunch straight from the airport. One whole chicken inasal for me! (spring chcicken naman eh, maliit lang yun, d ba? hehe)

[GC]

im glad you've written about native chicken inasal and that you recognize Darag (which is the native chicken strain local to Iloilo, the rest of Panay, Guimaras and Negros) as the super ingredient in the "authentic" chicken inasal. guro ilonggo ka no?
im currently part of a team thats working on a project to promote the Darag native chicken not just to consumers but primarily to the farmers in Western Visayas.
you know, the situation is this. consumers crave for native chicken delicacies. but sadly our supply is not enough. thus, we are linking with the farmers for the production of Darag native chicken.
we have a site which i just started in may 06. although it's already up in the web some of the links are still under construction.
i'd like to thank angelo for posting the link here to one of my articles featured in the news today. for those who want to know more about Darag native chicken check out our site www.darag.wesvarrdec.org and there you will find more information about Darag; from news to background info to breakthroughs to technologies on production and marketing.
"Sa Darag may buasdamlag"

[neench]

hi there! if you want native chicken, go to salcedo saturday market. They sell dressed native chicken and sell the innards and eggs separately. around 300 (i think) for the chicken and 100 for the innards. The quality is good. for the vingar, use "pinakurat" this is the ilonnggo version of the tuba vinegar. I saw a lot of Ilonggo restaurants use this one, u can buy this sa Cash and Carry. Now all you have to figure out is the astuete. Ill ask around how to make this one but I think you can buy this sa mga palengke? Much to my surprise, I tasted the chicken inasal in Greenbelt 1, it was good (NOTE: not exceptionally good) even if it was cold already. You might want to try it. Though Im sure its not as good as your suki's chicken im sure. Bon Apetit!

[meLOVESchix]

this totally reminds me of what i had just a while ago at Bacolod Chicken Inasal at Jupiter St. Makati..."Ysabella's Chicken" yumyum... the chicken inasal with a different tweak in taste...* mouth-waters*
I have tried to cook chicken inasal myself for the past 5 years, but to no avail the results were drastic and inhumane.. hehehe
well, kidding aside, this good stuff is really hard to cook. That is why i pray everyday that Bacolod Chicken Inasal will finally decide to put up a branch near our house here in BF. I mean just really right beside my house, so it will only be a breather away. *wishful thinkin* oh well, nice topic, im off to BCI now... ciao (",)

[meLOVESchix]

i was just in Metrowalk to eat lunch a while ago and of course i ate at Bacolod Chicken Inasal. As usual i had Ysabella's Chicken. (soooo goood), then I had Lumpia Ubod and Chikyninees(Crispy chicken skin). Surprisingly, i was still able to manage an Ice Cream Banana Medley for my dessert...i was so full. Like i wanna go home na nga after having lunch.. How about you guys? any "chiken inasal" encounter lately? share naman jan :)

[Bienvenida Tacumba]

I am interested for franchising. email the details to benjheavens@yahoo.com

[Chix Medina]

We've been in Bacolod Chicken Inasal last Saturday and I tried the sizzling tuna, Ysabella's chicken and ofcourse my favorite dessert " Banana Medley." Still its yummy!!!

[Tony Co]

I've tried the tuna sizzling and it was so tasty and yummy ofcourse in Bacolod Chicken Inasal, I hope I can have the recipe

[Keng Macatangay]

Sarap ulit-ulitin ng Ysabella's Chicken with matching La paz batchoy sarap!!!

[Alfred Basilde]

Sisig pare sarap din. Actually kahit ano sa Bacolod Chicken Inasal masarap.

[Cherry Ann Ferrer]

Ako din po. Basta Bacolod Chicken Inasal it.

[Mike Pascual]

Naks! I love that BCI too. I just can't help craving for it.

[Roll Ramirez]

aww. Bacolod Chicken Inasal, nakakagutom.