Recipe: Nilagang Manok

So, I decided it was time for me to fully embrace my heritage and learn how to cook some Filipino food. Every time I have ever visited my grandparents, I have had this chicken-cabbage soup. I never even knew what it was called until I decided to try to make it! Well, I looked at several different recipes and made some adjustments to get it as close to Grandma's as I could. It turned out to be a huge success, and now I can help pass along some culture to my quarter-Filipino children!



INGREDIENTS
2 T olive oil
1/2 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C ginger root, minced
8 C water
1 stalk celery, broken in three pieces
1 bay leaf (or 1t chopped bay leaves)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast meat, cut up
3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken leg meat, cut up
3 C cabbage, sliced
1/2 bunch green onion, cut into 2" pieces
salt and pepper, to taste
patis, to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook 2-3 minutes or until onion begins to look translucent.
2. Add water, celery, bay leaf, and chicken. Bring to rolling boil; reduce heat to low and cook 30 more minutes.
3. Remove celery. Add cabbage and green onion. Season with salt, pepper, and patis, to taste. Cook an additional 15 minutes, or until cabbage and green onions are soft.
4. Serve on rice with patis.

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I used sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Growing up, I always had it with white rice, but I made brown rice because I'm trying to be healthier.