Pollo guisado (braised chicken)

Dark poultry meat is specially tasty when braised. For this recipe, I’m going to use all drumsticks (because I like them so much!) but you can use any part of the chicken.

Pollo guisado (braised chicken) - tuttysan © 2010

You will need:

10 chicken drumsticks

6 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 of a red onion chopped in half inch squares

1 tea spoon salt

1/2 tea spoon ground oregano or 1 teaspoon oregano flakes

1 tea spoon tomato paste

1 tea spoon brown sugar

2 table spoons vegetable oil

4 green onions chopped (for garnish)

2 cups water

Preparation:

Garlic: mash garlic in pestle/mortar with half a teaspoon of salt. The salt will trap the oils and help turn the garlic into a paste.

In a casserole, place oil and turn on high until hot. Add the teaspoon of brown sugar and distribute in the pot with a spatula. Before sugar burns, place the chicken legs in the pan and let them brown for a minute. Turn and let the other side brown. Add the garlic paste and stir. Add the red onions and the oregano and stir until onions brown. Add a cup of water. As soon as water boils, add the tomato paste, stirring with a small spoon until it vanishes in the water. Add half of the left over salt. Simmer on medium fire for 10 minutes. Add remaining water and simmer on low for 25 minutes, stirring from time to time and making sure water does not burn out. Add more water as needed to desired amount of sauce. Taste the sauce and add additional salt and/or tomato paste if needed.

Soy sauce: I don’t use soy sauce to brown my chicken because the brown sugar usually does the trick. If you can’t get your chicken to brown the way you like, consider adding a teaspoon or two of light soy sauce, but adjust salt as needed since this will increase the sodium contents in your dish.

A minute before chicken is served, add green onions (this is my own little twist). Serve with moro de guandules/white rice and salad. Enjoy! Feeds 3-5.