Sinampalukang Manok / Chicken & Tamarind Soup
Being on a diet and wanting to eat Filipino food seems like a tough proposition considering how much pork, fat and sugar is in many of our dishes. However, when you think about it, there are a lot of dishes 
that meet the Marketman criterion for more protein and vegetables, liquid in the form of soup to fill the tummy up and minimal carbohydrates. Sinampalukang Manok is one of my favorite dishes while dieting and I have a hankering for pinoy food. It is very easy and relatively quick to make, tastes terrific and if served with just one small scoop of brown rice, makes a terrific “diet” meal that others in the family who aren’t on a diet also enjoy…
To make, heat up a heavy pot and add just a little vegetable oil. Saute some onions and ginger and the chicken pieces until slightly browned. Add a touch of patis (fish sauce) then 
rice washing (water clouded with rice starch), sampaloc broth made from scratch or instant sinigang powder, a half or whole chicken cube for more intense flavor, and patis to taste. Add the vegetables: sitaw or yard long beans, sliced eggplants, talbos ng ampalaya (bitter gourd tendrils), and siling pangsigang or mahaba if you want to add some zing (it will only get spicy if you cut up the chilli). You can also use kangkong if you like. When all the veggies are cooked the soup is ready to serve. It always hits the spot. Just remember, if you are cutting back on carbs, just have one scoop of brown rice with the soup and load up on the veggies!
Ay, na-miss ko tuloy yung sinampalukang manok na niluluto ng mommy ko…especially the ones cooked using young sampaloc leaves and native chicken.
September 5th, 2006Makauwi nga ng Bulacan sa weekend…
Hmm…will try sinampalukang manok one of these days. Didn’t know that its similar to sinigang.
Btw Marketman, I saw some mangosteen at Powerplant last weekend. They were very small & costs P600/kilo. What do you think, is it worth it?
September 5th, 2006math, Whoa! WAY OVERPRICED! I was just in Cebu and bought it at PHP250-275 a kilo. In the Salcedo market, I think it was PHP300 a kilo. Unless it is precious and incredibly sweet Bangkok sourced mangosteen, I think that price is absurdly high!
September 5th, 2006The Rockwell fruit stall in front of Milky Way has high quality, all imported fruit, with prices to match. So i’m guessing the mangosteen in question is imported na nga.
I like sinampalukang manok but i think i prefer a well-made tinola. More comforting, esp with the requisite red chilli-patis-calamansi dip.
September 5th, 2006I craved for Sinampalukang Manok when I was pregnant with my baby. My husband thought I was weird when I ate it every single day for about a month or so. I especially love it with sampaloc leaves in the broth. :)
September 5th, 2006math, I just passed by the Dizon farms stand in Fort Bonifacio and their mangosteen are only PHP250 a kilo. I agree the rockwell fruit stand has some good stuff but a lot of the same fruit is inside Rustan’s for 10-20% less… it’s much cheaper still elsewhere.
September 5th, 2006Which of them sell sweet mangosteens? I’m scared to buy because I bought some 3 years ago and they were sour! Never bought again.
September 5th, 2006My lola makes a good sinampalukang manok. She uses the young leaves (usbong) of the tamarind. I should try the recipe you posted and do a comparison, with my dad as guinea pig. Heehee.
September 6th, 2006It is one of our greatest culinary concoction especially during rainy season. It warms up the palate. One of the souring agents that we use is green sinuguelas (young one) when they are in season. The tartness it gives out marries well with the chicken and gives the broth milky look. Chili leaves work well on this one too and the addition of the variety vegetables that we like, real comfort food.
September 6th, 2006Maria Clara, the young sineguelas sounds terrific. I really want to try that…and add it to the list of sinigangs that I am trying to build! The soup with the young tamarind leaves is excellent. The leaves have a far milder flavor. Personally, I like the shocking sour flavors of the unripe tamarind fruit, but sometimes the subtlety of the leaves is also appreciated… we have a tamarind tree behind the house in Batangas and at this time of the year it has tons of new leaves… corrine, I haven’t found a consistently good supplier of mangosteen either. When in doubt, I actually buy one mangosteen first, taste it on the spot and if it is sour I don’t get any more… vendors always look at me somewhat nastily when I do this but hey, it’s my money…
September 6th, 2006Ay naku, nangasim tuloy ako. And the mention of sineguelas even made it worst!
September 6th, 2006I also like my sinampalukan manok cooked with young tamarind leaves.
Many thanks for the tip Marketman! Will try the mangosteen at Salcedo Vill or the Fort. :-)
September 6th, 2006Tried the sinampalukan recipe last night! It was terrific, even without the sampaloc leaves and the ampalaya tendrils. I also used chicken broth instead of the bouillion cube since I had none and the rice washing was gone by the time I cooked dinner! I ended up with a very dark and rich broth, perfect for the rainy weather here. Yum! Thanks for the diet tips (trying to diet along with you.)
September 6th, 2006wow. . . adding young sampalok leaves to this will also be good. . .
September 7th, 2006you can also add the sampalok flowers w/c is no longger available in the market.
September 7th, 2006Where I come from–Malolos, Bulacan–we use the flowers and young leaves (bulaklak and usbong) of sampaloc for Sinampalukang Manok. Not as sour as the unripe fruit (which we prefer for pork or beef sinigang) but perfect for the chicken.
September 12th, 2006I Love this!!!! more diet foods please…..
September 23rd, 2006ay tlagang masarap!masarap lalu pag may sampalok flower kya lang madalang nlang ako mkakita nun.Gusto ko yung medyo katamtama yung asim.Tlagang perfect yung chicken.
September 29th, 2006Glad I found this recipe! Tried it and my family loved it! I thought sampalok flowers and leaves lang puede magsinampalukan manok so pede rin pala ang instant tamarind powder! I’m in NJ so mahirap magahanap ng mga authentic pinoy ingredients! Thanks for sharing your recipe…
October 3rd, 2007the 1st thing that comes in mind the 1st time i saw the sinampalukang manok,was i should try it bcoz it really looks delicious.. hmnnnnnnn..
June 30th, 2008