Chicken Afritada

I remember that my fondest memories of chicken afritada was cooking it with "Skyflakes" - our local version of Club crackers. I never understood why we crushed it and put it in the dish, but my brother and I loved breaking up those crackers and sprinkling it on top of the boiling dish, pretending it was fairy dust (or sand from the sandman haha).

Now that I am more knowledgeable about cooking, I know that those crackers were used to thicken the sauce. Which was how we used to like it.

In this recipe, I did not use anything to thicken the sauce, because hubby likes "soupy" dishes. But I did use a lot of good ingredients to make this meal tasty and delicious!


What you need: 

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 large Russet potato, cubed
1 green bell pepper, cubed
1 large tomato, quartered
1/4 Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoon patis (fish sauce)
dash of black pepper


What to do:

 In a pot, heat canola oil over medium-high.Saute the garlic and onion for about a minute, then add in the chicken to brown. Season with patis and black pepper. Add fresh tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Mix well and bring to a boil.

Add potatoes and bell pepper. Lower heat, then let simmer for about 30 minutes or until chicken is fork tender. Serve with steamed rice.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. If you want a thicker sauce, add breadcrumbs.
2. Use pork instead of chicken. ;-)
3. Some people put carrots in afritada. 
4. Substitute fish sauce with salt.